[grules]

Isn't it weird that the fine imposed for having number plates not confirming to the spec is still just Rs.100. It's highly ineffective against big shots who spend few thousands to lakhs to get a fancy number and flaunt them. Any law to increase this will never be passed as it's mostly the politicians themselves who flout this law.

[Sowmya]

Good to see this move by GOVT to impose heavy fines on the violator. But at the same time I think the under table money to Cops will be increasing at big pace. Every one will try to go for jugad to Cops.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Sowmya

Good to see this move by GOVT to impose heavy fines on the violator. But at the same time I think the under table money to Cops will be increasing at big pace. Every one will try to go for jugad to Cops.

Look at it in this way Sowmya, the hefty increase in price would command an equally hefty increase in bribe demands. To avoid both, you'd better follow the law and pay up the fine when caught on the wrong side of the law.

[karty_83]

This is an excellent move from the Government. Whether the cops will now implement it as per the law or not is the big question. If enforcing such an act leads to more corruption then it would be very sad.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Finally, after almost a year, the MVA has been amended after an approval from the cabinet.

- Rash driving: Rs. 5,000/-
- Driving while talking on the cell phone: Rs. 5,000/-

The average trend shows a ten fold increase in the fines though finer details are still awaited.

Source: Link. and Link.

My query is, how do they define rash driving? Is it left to the interpretation of the traffic cop (whom you argued with a few seconds back)? Or will they produce video footage of rash driving to a court of law before you hand over the 5000 bucks?

There is a big fine on jumping red light. Will this fine money ever go into painting a strip on the road better known as the 'Stop line'?

They have raised the penalty for overspeeding. When will they raise the speed limit of 40kmph from 4-lane city roads?

If there will be strict vigilance on the overspeeding bit, when are they planning on making racetracks on the outskirts of every city where people can go, overspeed, blow off steam in their expensive car/motorcycle, and come back to the city driving in the same civilized manner they should, legally speaking. I swear to god I will never cross 60 on ANY road on my bike (/ 80 on any road on the cars) if they make a racetrack outside Pune.

[LonelyPlanet]

This is just to increase the take home income of the politicians and policemen !!
Larger the fine, larger the underhand dealing

[bala80]

What is being done to prevent driving on the wrong side of the road? This is the biggest cause of accidents on the highways and sad to note nothing has been done about this so far.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

This is just to increase the take home income of the politicians and policemen !!
Larger the fine, larger the underhand dealing

But you got to accept that higher fines will be a deterrant. If police increase their rates proportionately (ie from 20 or 50 earlier to 200 or 300 or 500) then it will be a big deterrent. Not everyone (esp taxiwallas) is going to be able to pay up this much everytime they break rules so eventually people will fall in line. It is a good thing and it was very much needed.

[avira_tk]

The cops are not getting a raise for sometime I think, hence the proposal for them to rake it in by charging everyone(meaning those whom they dare to stop, mainly folks travelling with their families) with something as vague as "rash driving". I see cops drive up one ways all the time and no, they are not fighting crime when doing so, I am not holding my breath to see them pulled over anytime.

Cops already possess power to make your life miserable just because they had a bad day. The new aspects will apply only to those without pull, politicos and goons will be overspeeding, auto drivers will be abusing cops and "rash driving" will enable them to cash in on their bruised egos from ordinary folks. I hope there is absolutely no proposal to incentivise cops by sharing revenue, they don't deserve it and its a way to legalize extortion for those in uniform.

[.sushilkumar]

The Only thing i see getting changed is that previously i used to get off with 50 rs , now i have cough up may be 200 rs or more or get charged for various offenses which i has n;t committed in first place as evident from various posts in this thread. Govt is already milking everybody in salaried class in one way or other way and now they have let looses pandu;s on them. Nothing will change IMO Until we have a Honest police force and a good infrastructure . what i can understand from this hike is that govt is keen to generate as much revenue as they can via various methods. Already they are missing their tax targets for the year evident from news articles.

IMO instead they should concentrate on spending the collected road tax in improving the roads. some thing for which the road tax is collected but diverted to other places.

I am hoping against hope that this will improve road safety in this hopeless country . apologies if i have offended some body .

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Driving while talking on the cell phone: Rs. 5,000/-

Guys - one question -

If one is speaking on a BT Phone or using the BT integrated HU like in Hyundais, Tatas and Toyotas et all, will we still be fined.

In simple terms, If i have paired my BT Phone with the HU and the cop just notices my lip movement from outside, will this still call for a fine as a violation ? Since this is a Factory fit, is it not right to assume that all factory accessories / features are legal?

Example a flame thrower is illegal as per ARAI. So if BT Phone is illegal, Why did ARAI approve the BT feature for Hyundais, Tatas, Toyotas et all.

Thoughts ?

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Guys - one question -

If one is speaking on a BT Phone or using the BT integrated HU like in Hyundais, Tatas and Toyotas et all, will we still be fined.

In simple terms, If i have paired my BT Phone with the HU and the cop just notices my lip movement from outside, will this still call for a fine as a violation ? Since this is a Factory fit, is it not right to assume that all factory accessories / features are legal?

Example a flame thrower is illegal as per ARAI. So if BT Phone is illegal, Why did ARAI approve the BT feature for Hyundais, Tatas, Toyotas et all.

Thoughts ?

I do not think so. Had this been illegal, car manufacturers would never provide stock music systems with BT feature. Manufacturers do not provide anything that with the car that is disallowed/illegal.

[Zappo]

I see a different problem for cities like Hyderabad. Here rarely ever does the police stop you and issues a challan. You are sent an eChallan @home and you can pay online. The problem with this system is that you rarely ever contest the claims. Over a period of time this became a fantastic source to swell up the coffers. I have seen eChallans being misused, particularly in the months between January and March to complete the targets. Otherwise also this is a regular thing that happens on many circles and intersection. One guy stands with a camera in hand at one corner and keeps happily clicking at random. Every number plate captured = 1 challan. Some times when people spot this I have seen them stopping their vehicles, going over to the guy and arguing. Many manage to get the photo removed but mostly thats a rare thing to happen. People also don't bother much with eChallans as it is not worth hunting for an obscure police address and go there and contest. Anyhow nothing comes out of that. Its much easier to pay up the 200 bucks in a month and move on with life. Now it will start pinching. Imagine, if the police starts dumping you with 2000/5000 rupees challans every second day! I am seeing a huge potential problem here.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Guys - one question -

If one is speaking on a BT Phone or using the BT integrated HU like in Hyundais, Tatas and Toyotas et all, will we still be fined.

In simple terms, If i have paired my BT Phone with the HU and the cop just notices my lip movement from outside, will this still call for a fine as a violation ? Since this is a Factory fit, is it not right to assume that all factory accessories / features are legal?

Example a flame thrower is illegal as per ARAI. So if BT Phone is illegal, Why did ARAI approve the BT feature for Hyundais, Tatas, Toyotas et all.

Thoughts ?

Buddy, Nice though but that's a feature which is to be used while the car is parked and not during driving.

This is also like "If high beam distracts oncoming traffic, why do they provide that feature?"

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Buddy, Nice though but that's a feature which is to be used while the car is parked and not during driving.

This is also like "If high beam distracts oncoming traffic, why do they provide that feature?"

Ashley, If i were to use the phone while the vehicle is in standstill, this feature really would not do justice as i could use the phone the conventional way.