Tag: Motor Vehicles Act

Patna’s new home delivery: pollution under control certificates

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Bihar’s transport department launched a mobile pollution testing van facility to deliver pollution under control (PUC) certificates on vehicle owners’ doorsteps.

After implementation of the new Motors Vehicles Act, penalty for violating PUC norms increased to Rs 10,000 and so did the footfall of certificate seekers at pollution testing centres. This prompted the department to launch the facility.

A trial of the mobile van facility was conducted at the Patna secretariat on September 18 and it will soon be completely functional with the launch of a toll-free number, said transport officials.

“We are in the process of launching a toll-free number. Once it starts functioning, the mobile van service will be operational too,” said Sanjay Agarwal, secretary, state transport department.

“Vehicle owners will then be able to call the van to their homes by dialling the toll-free number and get the PUC certificate issued on the spot within few minutes,” he added.

They will initially press 10 such vans into service in Patna and later expand it to other districts, said Agarwal.

Patna is the seventh-most polluted city in the world, according to a recent Greenpeace report. The annual level of particulate matter 2.5 in 2018 was 119.7 micrograms per cubic metre in Patna, added the 2018 World Air Quality Report, jointly prepared by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace.

The fear of the fine and inadequate number of pollution testing centres made vehicle owners opt for public transport.

“My PUC certificate has expired, so I have stopped rising my bike to work. I am commuting through public transport so I don’t have to pay a heavy penalty. Also, there are no pollution testing centres in and around my locality so I have failed to get the certificate renewed,” said Dilip Kumar Singh, who works in a private company in Patna.

There are around 500 such centres in Bihar, of which 98 are in Patna district, according to a report by the state transport department.

The department has also asked all petrol pumps and service centres of automobile companies to set up pollution testing centres soon. “Opening of these centres will not only curb air pollution but also provide job opportunities to youths,” said the transport secretary.

There are 2,550 outlets of various oil marketing companies in the state.

There’s also a plan to set up 150 more centres in the state in the next six months.

New traffic rules: Jharkhand will not impose fines before December

Source: livemint.com

RANCHI : Giving relief to motorists under the new Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, that came into force from this month, the Jharkhand government has decided to postpone its implementation for the next three months.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, during a review meeting on Friday, directed the transport department to open facilitation centres across the state to enable people get their documents in order in the next three months.

The Jharkhand government has asked state residents to complete all their documents within three months while putting the provisions of the Act on hold for the period.

“Taking cognisance of people’s safety some amendments were made in the Motor Vehicle Act by Centre. However, taking note of the issues people are facing, we have decided to give three-month relief to people so that they can get their documents in order,” Jharkhand Transport Minister CP Singh told ANI.

The chief minister has asked people to abide by traffic rules and refrain from rash driving. In view of the heavy fine under the Motor Vehicles Act, several state governments have decided to put its implementation on hold. Gujarat and Uttarakhand have even announced a cut in penalties for traffic violations under the Act.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had said that the Central government did not take the states into confidence before implementing the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The new Motor Vehicles Act has enhanced the penalties for traffic violations and erring drivers. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had notified the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019 last month and it was implemented in many states across the nation from September 1.

According to the new law, in case of dangerous driving, first-time offenders face imprisonment of six months to one year and/or fine of between ₹1,000 and ₹5,000. For drunken driving, a violator will have to face imprisonment up to six months and/or a fine of up to ₹10,000 in case of first time offense. For the second offense, there will be a prison term of up to 2 years and/or a fine of ₹15,000 will be levied.

For driving without licence, a motorist will have to pay a penalty of ₹5,000, an increase of 10 times from ₹500.

Fines are harsh: Jharkhand hints at revising hefty traffic penalties ahead of elections

Source: indiatoday.in

The Jharkhand government has dropped an indication to revise the fine provision in the new Motor Vehicles Act.

State Transport Minister CP Singh said that the traffic fines imposed were exorbitant. He said that the government was for the people and they felt that the fines were harsh.

The transport minister said that the government was serious about giving relief to the commuters who are facing the brunt of new act.

CP Singh assured the people to wait for two days after which PM Modi will be there and then a special session would be convened regarding the matter.

“I have felt the difficulties of people. The act was implemented abruptly and all of a sudden,” CP Singh said.

The govt has decided to relax the norms and fine provision in the new Motor Vehicles Act.

He said that the fines slapped under the head of registration, pollution and other offences would be reviewed. He also said that he had already talked to the chief minister about it.

When asked why all the states who were heading towards elections were in a haste to revise the traffic fines, CP Singh said, “We are concerned about people’s interest.”

It comes after Gujarat slashed the hefty fines by nearly 50 per cent after the implementation of the Motor Vehicles Act. Karnataka is likely to follow Gujarat in reducing traffic fines.

Speculations are rife that the government is scared that such hefty fine could cost them during the elections which are round the corner. Jharkhand is scheduled to go for elections towards the end of the year.

Earlier, CP Singh was fined for violating the traffic movement tracking system he had introduced once. The minister was on his way on June 23 when his car was caught jumping a signal at the Sarjana Chowk in Ranchi by the red light violation detection system (RLVD). The minister had to shell out Rs 100 as penalty.

Fine-drive effect: Fear & loathing in Ranchi

Source: telegraphindia.com

Friday was almost unreal in the capital city. Almost all thoroughfares bore a deserted look. Even auto-rickshaw drivers, who are notorious for overloading, wrong-side driving, picking and dropping passengers at will from the middle of the road, were driving cautiously. Many autos stayed away from the road.

Traffic policemen attributed it to the fear the new Motor Vehicles Act, which has radically hiked fines for offences, has struck in the hearts of motorists. The decision of the Ranchi traffic police department to recommend suspension of licence of offenders for a period of three months has aggravated the fears, they said.

“Right from the morning traffic remained quite smooth,” said a traffic constable at Ratu Chowk. “Even during the peak hours of 9am to 11am when people rush to offices, there was less traffic than usual. That means people who don’t have proper documents of their vehicle are scared of venturing out on the road.

“Though the new Motor Vehicles Act is harsh in terms of fine and punishment, it has some positive impact,” he added. “Now the new rule fixes liability on parents with three years of jail and Rs 25,000 fine if their juvenile son or daughter is caught driving.”

The traffic policemen continued the enforcement drive through the day.

On Thursday, state transport commissioner Praveen Toppo issued a directive to the traffic police department saying that if anyone empowered to enforce provisions of the new law is found committing an offence under the same law, that person will be liable to for twice the penalty mandated for that offence under the new law.

Acting upon that order, Ranchi traffic superintendent of police Ajit Peter Dungdung slapped Rs 34,000 fine on traffic constable Rakesh Kumar on Harmu road on Friday morning.

“He was driving the bike and an ASI (assistant sub-inspector)-rank official was the pillion rider,” SP Dungdung said on Friday. “We can’t just ignore that he is from traffic department and was on duty.

“We can’t preach people to follow traffic rules and fine them when our own staff are not following the rules,” he added. “Though he was wearing helmet but pillion rider was without helmet hence he was imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. Then I started checking every paper of his bike. He was not carrying driving licence, the bike was without pollution-under-control certificate and it was not insured.”

The SP insisted that there would be no leniency in taking strong action against government vehicles and public servants.

A state government employee, who works at Project Building, said that for the past four days he has not been using his two-wheeler to go to office.

“The pollution certificate and insurance of my bike expired around two years ago. I did not get time for renewal, and honestly speaking I just ignored it because police never checked for these documents except helmet, driving licence and registration papers,” he said. “Today (Friday) I got the insurance policy paper but getting the pollution-under-control certificate is a challenging job because I will have to take my bike to the testing centre and there is no guarantee that I will not be caught on the way there.”

Awdhesh Kumar, an auto-rickshaw driver, said he had kept his vehicle off the road for the last three days as its pollution-under-control certificate had lapsed a month back.

“Early morning tomorrow (Saturday) I will visit the pollution testing centre to get the certificate,” he said. “It is safe early morning because traffic cops generally join duty around 9am. I can’t risk driving and paying the fine. I have already borrowed money to buy the auto-rickshaw. I also carry some children to school. I have stopped it till I have proper documents,” he said.

“Auto drivers fear that they will have to pay huge penalty for minor faults,” he added. “They also park randomly, pick up and drop passengers anywhere on the road. I will request the traffic department to properly train them about the law,” he added.