The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which was passed in the parliament last month would attract harsher penalties to tighten road traffic regulations as the amended Motor Vehicles Act takes was implemented on September 1. The amended provisions of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019, which hike the penalty for traffic rules violation, has come into effect. As many as 63 clauses of the Act, which correspond to increase in penalty/fine for traffic rule violation, has come into force from Sunday. Under the new rules Rs 10,000 fine will be levied for not giving way to emergency vehicles and Rs 10,000 for driving despite disqualification. Aggregators violating driving licences will be fined up to Rs one lakh. It also includes penalties in the range of Rs 1,000- 2,000 for over-speeding. As per the Bill, driving without insurance will be punishable with Rs 2,000 fine, while driving without helmets will attract Rs 1,000 fine and 3-month suspension of licence. Guardian/owner will be deemed to be guilty in case of road offence by juveniles while registration of the vehicle will be cancelled. Traffic violations would now attract a penalty of Rs 500 in place of Rs 100 earlier, while disobedience of orders of authorities will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 2,000 in place of Rs 500 earlier. Penalty for unauthorised use of vehicles without a licence has been proposed at Rs 5,000 while those driving without a licence will have to shell out the same amount and those found driving despite disqualification would be fined Rs 10,000. Penalty for dangerous driving has been increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 1,000, while drunken driving under will cost a fine of Rs 10,000. Also cancellation of registration of motor vehicle for 12 months. The juvenile will also become ineligible to obtain learners’ license until the age of 25 years. Driving licence-holders can apply for renewal any time between 1 year before its expiry up to 1 year after expiry. Applicants of learner’s licence can now apply to any licencing authority in state and submit the application online.
