Bangalore Police To Use Traffic Fines In Improvement Of Infrastructure For Motorists In The City

Earlier this month, the Indian government implemented the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019. Under the new motor vehicle rules, the government had directed all states and their traffic police divisions to impose heavy fines on traffic rule violators. A majority of motorists felt the fine was too high and a few more went on to call it preposterous.

While a small section of motorists just didn't want to follow rules, a larger section had a valid argument. They said, such enormous fines can be imposed after the government provides the right infrastructure.

While the government ignored this debate and continued imposing heavy fines, the Bangalore Traffic Police seems to have given it some thought. According to TOI, the Bangalore Traffic Police is seeking complete reimbursement of the fines collected from violators.

The fines collected by the traffic police are deposited in the government's treasury and then the government is free to use the amount as per its priorities and needs. However, one can look at the condition of the roads in the city and figure out that improvement of infrastructure is clearly not one among their top priorities.

The Bangalore Traffic Police reportedly intends to change that and hence looked for complete reimbursement of the fines collected. However, the Karnataka state government has agreed to part with just 50 percent of the fines deposited in its treasury.

Bhaskar Rao, Bangalore City Police Commissioner was quoted as saying, "We have sent a proposal to the government seeking 100 percent reimbursement for traffic police to improve traffic infrastructure in the city. The government said it would give 50 percent. The money is likely to be released soon."

He went on to say that the money would be used to procure breathalysers, signal equipment, barricades and develop street architecture among other things. He also mentioned that the police intends to increase the number of home guards from the current number of 379 to 4,000 and this fund would help the police pay their salaries.

In 2017, the Bangalore Traffic Police Collected Rs 112 crore in fines and in 2018, the number dropped down to Rs 81 Crore. In 2019, the number is expected to increase thanks to the new fine structure implemented by the government. The amount of fines collected till August 2019 amounted to Rs 47 crore.

The new fines were officially implemented in the first week of September. The Bangalore Traffic Police collected Rs 75 lakh in fines within five days of its implementation. Given this scenario, the amount of fines that will be collected this year will be massive in the next few months.

Thoughts On Bangalore Traffic Police Using Collected Fines To Improve Infrastructure

Collecting fines and then using it to improve traffic infrastructure sounds like a good plan and it all finally comes down to how it is implemented. The biggest grouse of motorists was the fact that the government expected large amounts of fine while doing nothing to improve infrastructure. Well, the Bangalore Traffic Police might have come up with a solution to just that.