New Motor Vehicles Law in Action: Delhi gets 3,900 challans on the first day

September 02, 2019

A total of 3900 challans have been issued to the traffic rule violators on the first day after the amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act became effective on Sunday, 1^st September 2019. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Parliament in July in order to give an extra turn to the existing traffic regulations like the issuance of driving license and levying stricter penalties for traffic rules violations to improve road safety. The Transport Minister of Delhi Kailash Gahlot has said that before issuing compounding notification for the implementation of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, the Delhi Government will hold consultations with the stakeholders, including the traffic police. He has further stated that & quot Since heavy penalties have been prescribed under the Act after a gap of many years, the compounding notification will be issued with serious consultation with traffic police and other stakeholders.& quot The Delhi government has been authorized under Section 200 of the Motor Vehicles Act to issue a gazette notification in order to make certain offences compoundable (eligible for entering into a compromise) while also indicating at whose option the offence will be compoundable. The amendment has made the fine for not wearing helmets or seat belts up to Rs. 1000, which was Rs. 100 earlier. Moreover, those who drive without a licence can be fined Rs. 5000 and can also face a jail term for three months. Penalties under the Motor Vehicles Act before and after the amendment

Penalty	Old Amount	New Amount
Offences where no specific penalty is provided	Rs. 100 for first offense and Rs. 300 for second or subsequent offense	Rs. 500 for first offense, Rs. 1500 for subsequent offense
Violation of road regulations		Rs. 500 to 1000
Travelling without ticket	Rs. 200	Rs. 500
Not obeying orders of Authority and refusal to share information	Rs. 500	Rs. 2000
Unauthorised use of vehicles without license	Rs. 1000	Rs. 5000
Driving without license	Rs. 500	Rs. 5000
Driving despite disqualification	Rs. 500	Rs. 10000
Over-speeding	Rs. 400	Rs 1000 - Rs 2000 for light motor vehicle, Rs 2000 - Rs 4000 for medium passenger or goods vehicles and impounding of driving license for second/subsequent offence.
Dangerous driving		Imprisonment of 6 months to 1 year and/or fine of Rs. 1000- Rs. 5000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine up to Rs. 10000 for second offence.
Drunken driving		Imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs. 10000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine of Rs. 15000 for second offence.
Driving when mentally or physically unfit	Rs. 200 for first offense, Rs. 500 for second or subsequent offence	First offence- Rs. 1000 and second or subsequent offence- Rs. 2000
Offences relating to accident		Imprisonment of up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs. 5000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 1 year and/or fine up to Rs. 10000 for second offence.
Racing and speeding		Imprisonment of up to 1 month and/or fine up to Rs. 500 for first offence and imprisonment up to 1month and/or fine up to Rs. 10000 for second offence
Driving uninsured vehicle	Fine of Rs. 1000 and/or punishment up to 3 months	Rs. 2000 and/or imprisonment up to 3 months for the first offence and fine of Rs. 4000 and/or imprisonment up to 3 months for the second offence.
Taking vehicle without lawful authority and seizing motor vehicle by force	Rs. 500	Rs. 5000
Causing obstruction to free flow of traffic	Rs. 50	Rs. 500