Last updated: January 6th, 2020 5:01 PM

New Traffic Fines and Rules

The new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced by the Government of India to upgrade the traffic rules and regulations from September 1, 2019. The bill was implemented to introduce new fines for traffic violations, decrease inconsistent traffic scenarios and pollution upgrade traffic software and tools to improve active traffic management. In this article, we look at the new traffic fines and rules.

Overview

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH) introduced the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill on July 15 2019, through Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The bill was implemented to regulate complicated traffic scenarios, decrease traffic violations and enrol all the vehicles to digital MRTH. This bill was regulated with the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund that provides financial support during the time of death, accidents or subjected to hit and run. The funds will be credited by the Central government or sources of Central government. Read here about Special Courts and Tribunals

Improvements in Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019

• Compensation for road accident victims
• Compulsory Insurance for all motor vehicles
• Good Samaritans
• Recall the vehicles if defective
• National Transportation Policy
• Road Safety Board
• Offences and Penalties
• Taxi Aggregators and
• Regulate app-based taxi-hailing services for smooth rider experience

The bill also regulates on granting licenses and permits to motor vehicles and imposes penalties for violation of the traffic regulations. Click here to read about Maharastra Vehicle Tax

Objectives of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill

• Establish a constructive planning framework for road transportation
• Implement stricter rules for traffic violators
• To make mandatory for the automobile sector to replace defective vehicles that cause harm to the environment or the individual
• Ensure safety through a new traffic management system
• Supporting good samaritans by not making liable to any criminal prosecution
• Develop a platform to promote new vehicle technology
• Providing location tracking services for all public service transports

New Traffic Fines for Violating Traffic

The following table describes the new traffic fines for various traffic offences.

S. No.	Violation	Penalty (New)	Penalty (Old)
1	Drunken Driving	Rs.10,000 and/or 6 months in prison Rs.15,000 and/or 2 years in jail for a future offence	Rs.2000
2	Offences by Juveniles	The Owner or the guardian of the vehicle will be charged guilty with: A fine of Rs.25,000 3 years of jail term The license will be cancelled for 12 months The juvenile will be ineligible to apply for license till 25 years of age	NA
3	Driving vehicle without a license	Rs.5000 or community service	Rs.500
4	Driving vehicle without a permit	Rs.10,000 and/or up to 6 months prison term Community service	Up to Rs.5000
5	Speeding or racing	Rs.5000 and/or 3 months prison term, community service Rs.10,000 for future offence and/or up to 1-year prison term	Rs.500
6	Aggregators (violating licence conditions)	Rs.25,000 to Rs.1,00,000	NA
7	Overloaded vehicles	Rs.20,000 and Rs.2000 for every extra ton and/or community service	Rs.2000 and Rs.1000 for every extra ton
8	Oversized vehicles	Rs.5,000–Rs.10,000 and/or community service	NA
9	Blocking the way for emergency vehicles like ambulances, fire trucks or conveys	Rs.10,000 and/or community service	NA
10	Driving despite disqualification of license or permit	Rs.10,000 and/or community service	Rs.500
11	Overloading of two-wheelers	Rs.2000, License disqualification for 3 months and/or community service	Rs.100
12	Dangerous Driving, Violating traffic signals	Rs.1000–Rs.5000 and/or 6 months to 1-year jail term Rs.10,000 and/or up to 2 years prison term License will be seized and might lead to disqualification or cancellation	Rs.1000
13	Using unauthorised vehicles without licence	Rs.1000–Rs.5000	Rs.1000
14	Over Speeding	LMV: Rs.1000–Rs.2,000 MPV or HPV : Rs.2,000–Rs.4,000 and/or License will be seized and might lead to disqualification or cancellation	Rs.400
15	Not using seatbelts while driving	Rs.1,000 and/or community service	Rs.100
16	Driving vehicle without Insurance	Rs.1,000 and/or up to 3 months prison term, community service	Rs.1000
17	Violating Rules and Regulations	Rs.500–Rs.1000	Rs.100
18	Offences committed by enforcing authorities	Twice the penalty will be implemented under the relevant section	NA
19	Travelling without ticket, pass or permit	Rs.500	Rs.200
20	Overloading of passengers	Rs.200 for every extra passenger and/or community service	NA
21	Not wearing helmet	Rs.1,000 and/or license disqualification for 3 months community service	Rs.100
22	Disobedience to authorities	Rs.2000	Rs.500