Bengaluru: It looks like hefty traffic fines will be back soon as the Government of Karnataka is set to rollback the revised fines that had come into effect in September of 2019.
It can be recalled that the state government had revised the traffic fines under the new motor vehicle law passed by the Centre, following the Goa and Gujarat models. This was done following backlash from the people who complained that the fines were too high.
The Karnataka government will now implement the fines as prescribed under the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019. While it is reported that this will be done in phases following the directions of the Central government, a timeline for the implementation has not been specified.
Karnataka Transport Minister Laxman Savadi, on Monday, said that the Union Government had held a meeting with the transport ministers of several states and explained to them why it was necessary for the hefty fines to be implemented. “We found the reasons sufficient, so we agreed to implement the original fines,” he reportedly said.
According to reports, Savadi said that India’s image took a fall due to the high number of road deaths. He added that all of the hefty fines would not be implemented at once.
Reports also state that the Union Government had told the states and Union Territories that the fines cannot be reduced below the minimum amount fixed by the law, unless assented to by the President of India.
