[Thilak29]

Of course YES.
Unlike road tax we pay, hope these funds help to roll out much better monitoring and implementation of rules by adapting the latest tech and increasing headcount.

[NPV]

Voted YES and also wanted to share some recent experiences:
1. My cousin was trying to get the PUC for his scooter done but with all PUC centres having seemingly unending queues, he requested me to get it done during a weekend since there is a petrol bunk with a PUC centre near my home. The place opens at 8 am so I reached there at 7:35 am to find about 5 two wheelers and about 10 cars already in line I joined the two wheeler queue and the centre started work around 8:15am after opening and setting the equipment up. They would check 2 two wheelers and then a car followed by 2 two wheelers again and then a car, this was the pattern followed. The owner of the scooter in front of me ranted that he hates to bribe cops and has been hearing about huge fines (via WhatsApp and media) being levied for "simple" offenses so that's why he decided to get the PUC done. So, yes the fine amounts being raised does make people comply.

2. Our maid's son was one who'd never use a helmet with his Activa. I had a tough time counseling him and finally he bought a helmet after being fined Rs.100 last year, till then he'd managed to evade getting caught. He ran out of luck and paying that fine made him buy a helmet and use it too.

3. Our maid's daughter sometimes rides pillion on her husband's Dio. While he wears a helmet, she never bought one and whenever they commuted together, they'd be careful not to get caught, that is till last week! Though the rider was wearing a helmet, the cops demanded a fine of Rs.2000 (Rs.1000 for the pillion not wearing a helmet and Rs.1000 for the rider who allowed the pillion to ride without a helmet). The lady broke down and started crying inconsolably. Between them, they had just about Rs.600. They finally settled it with a sum of Rs.500 unofficially of course, but they bought a new helmet the same day, so yes it does pinch and hurt where it matters most.

My concern now is the states lowering the fines - l think Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have done this (not too sure about the second and third). Also, I read in the newspapers that the Karnataka government is considering adopting the Gujarat model to lower the fines. If this continues, it will only make matters worse!

[saket77]

Yes. It deters. It is effective.

Roads in Ranchi which used to be choked became free flowing after new rules came into effect. Couldn't see rash driving and people who were not wearing helmet before while riding where wearing it even while riding pillion! The ones who did not have papers in order gave up riding or driving altogether until their papers were done effectively taking off a sizable chunk of traffic from the roads. One could see long queues for getting PUCs. Another news item carried by a local daily stated that there has been a drop of 20-25% in sales of petrol & diesel. In some areas, this drop was as high as 50%; so you could well imagine how many vehicles were plying without proper documentation.

However, the state Govt. announced on Saturday that they are providing relaxation to people for 3 months to get all papers in order and hence fines won't be levied except for rash driving, breaking the signal and riding without the helmet.

Needless to say, the mayhem is back on roads from today itself.

[simeonovitch]

The only thing that this has deterred me from is Vehicle ownership.
I've now decided that I'll keep my 2012 Polo is going to be the last car I'll ever own.

I'll now get a used Tiger 800 for the weekends and touring, and walk/metro for everything else.

[Caramba]

Can someone point me to the charging section for no PUC being a 10,000 rupee fine. As far as I can see Section 190(2) of the MV Act prescribes a penalty for a polluting vehicle. So to my understanding even if I do not have a PUC certificate, it would require the police to check and determine my vehicle is over the limit, because the fact that I do not have a certificate does not make my vehicle polluting.

So while I do believe that the fines will be a deterrent I also see there will be a lot of misuse.

[anjan_c2007]

Most of the States are up in arms against the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) dictat to impose hefty, revised fines for erring traffic offenders. Gujarat has vowed and has acted to reduce the fines by upto 90 % and many other States are following. Haryana is one example, where they have retracted an once implemented decision to impose the hefty fines. Maharashtra has also gone slow on its implementation. Rightfully so !

The file movement in any Ministry/ govt department starts from the lowest level of an UDC/Assistant/ Section Officer and moves up the ladder without bypassing any part of the hierarchy to finally get the Secretary's and Minister's nod. Seeing and going through the final notification and then legislation, it is apparent that not much 'application of mind' has been done by the concerned bureaucrats. Only paperwork to juggle with the figures in Rupees have been attempted in A.C. chambers, without studying, thinking, visualising or knowing the reality about the real killers on the streets.

Only last week, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court has lashed out at the State government by asking "How many more litres of blood do you want to paint the roads with?” These were the observations made by the Madras High Court a day after 23-year-old Chennai techie Ms Subhasri was run over by a tanker after an illegal hoarding by a political party fell on her. She was on a motor bike and the bike riders fell down after which the poor lady was trampled under the tanker. The High Court lashed out at the Tamil Nadu government for failing to implement its orders on erecting hoardings, stating it was tired of passing multiple orders against illegal hoardings and banners.

These types of incidents of negligence by the government and its bodies are in the tens of thousands. The new MoRTH propelled legislation of amendments is totally dumb and does not speak about such deficiencies (potholes, craters, manholes, chaotic traffic, obstructions necessarily man and govt made) that turn our roads into killing fields. Some penal provisions and criminal liabilities are there for road contractors who design faulty roads in the amended rules. It's common knowledge that such a contractor if identified and zeroed upon for criminal action ( it will be very rare to see someone being identified) may immediately move court and most likely get a soothing relief for himself.

The erring and delinquent, poor traffic user who is caught in the act is penalised. Hundreds of thousands of other such delinquents go scot free and remain unchecked by the law enforcers.

The MoRTH bureaucrats would rather do better by doing prolonged field studies in cities, towns and villages and highways/ expressways to gather data suo moto to interpret and devise holistic measures. These measures must take care of both the offenders and the authorities who act negligently and become causative factors, getting illegal licences for culpable homicide to kill the hapless traffic users on the roads.

[adi.mariner]

Voted "Yes". The steep traffic fines will definitely deter traffic offenders. Riding with Helmets, wearing seat belts, keeping all documents up to date, driving on the wrong side of the road are basic driving rules and must be followed by all vehicles. But what about the horrible condition of the roads, the illegal hoardings, badly marked traffic signs, etc? The responsible parties must be made accountable and fined for that as well.

[el lobo 6061]

I'm very happy with the increase in fine amount.

Earlier the fines were so measly that people felt, it okay to break them. We can easily cough up the amount.

Now with higher fines eating up their income, they will follow the rules.

If I follow the rules and have all the paperwork in place, why should I be worried, scared or cry afoul?

Sad to see some states reducing the fine. Sets a wrong predicament and shows tolerance towards indiscipline.

If we were to see discipline in society at large; high penalty is the only deterrent.

Its a good start and I'm sure other things like roads, potholes, illegal banners, etc will be corrected in course of time. But we cannot say, 1st fix this or that then implement other things.

[shiva75]

Like one of the previous posts said, I observed long queues at the PUC centres. I personally spent 2.5 hours in line to renew mine. Unfortunately, my PUC was set to expire at this same time and had to endear these queues where it is normally empty. While people are getting deterred due to the fines, what about the elephant in the room? Corrupt cops!! Yes, they are having the last laugh. They are now greedily filling their pockets even more than ever before. Sorry to say this and I have lived in several states, Bangalore is the probably the most corrupt of them all. They are having a fantastic time with these new fines. I have heard from so many of my colleagues on how they are now on a rampage asking for a lot lot more to fill their pockets.

Unfortunately, this is the flip side of a well intended motor vehicles act. I am seeing lots of other posts of Bangalore autos/cabbies starting to behave, I would say that is the bit the case. People continue to come into on coming traffic (autos , bikes) , buses continue to stop bang in middle of roads to offload or I load passengers blocking traffic for miles with cops standing right there and not doing a thing. Are these cops meant to regulate commoners like you and me only? No one ever touches the biggest offenders such as cabbies, bus operators (public and private) commercial trucks etc . Sorry for the rant , will stop now.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by NPV

Also, I read in the newspapers that the Karnataka government is considering adopting the Gujarat model to lower the fines. If this continues, it will only make matters worse!

This was in yesterday's newspaper, but I don't think the Karnataka government made any announcement regarding reduced fines for traffic offences yet (though it was speculated yesterday).

Source:Indian Express Bangalore edition, 16 Sep 2019
Link

[bharatbits]

Voted yes.

I'd like to assume people who voted No touched/ clicked it by mistake and didn't have a option to change it.

[veedub89]

Voted Yes.

But there is a caveat.
The new steeper traffic fines are only effective if the law is enforced religiously and strictly.
If there aren't enough cops around to fine people then this law will fall flat on it's face.
For the first time in history our traffic cops have been given a sharp tool to enforce the law with. Now if they don't use this properly or frequently then the whole thing has no meaning.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

I*SNIP*

If I follow the rules and have all the paperwork in place, why should I be worried, scared or cry afoul?

*SNIP*

Here, let me quote myself from another related thread that I wrote for people who say what you said:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ml#post4652602 (Traffic Police enforcing new Motor Vehicles Act from 15/08/2019 : How do you plan to adapt?)

Cheers

[Neel]

While I am a firm believer in following rules, high fines would really make a motorist "think" about a few aspects that he/she many not have paid attention to.

However, the "fine" collecting points and the "traffic issue" points are not the same. Most fines collected are still for missing documents, helmets etc; Driving behavior and habits are hard to change quickly and I don't see the focussed messaging from the transport department to educate motorists.

High fines + a strong messaging will certainly make it impactful. The latter is missing or being ignored.

A lot of the population breaking rules don't care of such posts or social media messaging. They will only learn from co-passengers, fellow motorists who change. And it's our duty to continue to be better motorists.

[CarMind]

Voted Yes.

The steep new traffic fines are "STEEP" because they are meant to dissuade the people from braking law. If someone wants to avoid paying it, simply don't break the rules. That's it. Most of the issues like speeding, jumping signals, not wearing seat belts and helmets etc. can't be a case of mere helplessness. Its an intentional behavior that can be absolutely avoided.

On a separate instance, this weekend, a Zoomato rider on his bike was waiting on the signal on the absolute right side of a non-divided road and giving hard time to traffic movement coming from opposite side. When it was my turn, i asked him to shift in his lane. That was all required for him to hit my car with his bare hands as i passed by him. As i was with family and kid, didn't stopped to counter him there. Now one, he is surely following the rules wearing helmet and waiting at a signal, but on the other hand, showing violence in response to a genuine request!! Does this calls for a challan too?