Bangalore Police Collect Fines Worth Rs 10.7 Crore In September & Violations Drop By 30 Percent

The fall in the number of violations is being attributed to the positive impact of the new Motor Vehicle act. In September 2019, the central government amended the Motor Vehicle Act and increase the fines for violations by upto 10 times.

Traffic police across the nation went into overdrive and implemented the new fines in a strict manner. As a result, government treasuries soon started filling up and motorists began following traffic rules. The government of Karnataka implemented the new fines on 03 September, 2018 and collected a fine of Rs 72.5 lakh within just five days.

However, motorists were unhappy and discontent about the steep increase in fines without the required increase in quality of infrastructure. Heeding to the discontent among motorists across the state, on 19 September, the Bangalore Traffic Police reduced the fines for a few offences by upto 50 percent.

Adding to this, the department also announced that it would use the collected fines to improve infrastructure. It has been more than a month now since the new rules were implemented and the Bangalore Traffic Police has now announced that the new MV act has had a brilliant impact.

BR Ravikanthe Gowda, the Joint Commissioner of Police said, "Compared to August, the number of traffic violations booked in September fell by more than 2.5 lakh. In the same period, the fine amount collected went up. This shows the positive impact of the revised MV Act and the enhanced fine amounts."

"There has been a clear reduction in all visible traffic violations, including the helmet and seat-belt rules and usage of mobile phones. Signal jumping has also reduced to some extent." In August 2019, a total of 8.5 lakh cases were booked and a fine of Rs 8.8 crore was collected.

In September, thanks to the new Motor Vehicle act, the number of cases booked reduced to 6 lakh. Thanks to the hefty fines being imposed, the fines collected went up to Rs 10.7 crore in the city.

The state government slashed the penalties for helmet-less two-wheeler riding and riding/driving without a license by 50 percent. For more serious offences like driving under the influence of alcohol, drag racing, etc, the fines are hefty and could also lead to arrest/seizure of the vehicle according to the new MV act.

Thoughts On Traffic Fines In Bangalore Increasing By 21 Percent & Traffic Violations Decreasing by 30 Percent

The statistics prove that the new Motor Vehicle Act did exactly what it was intended to. The number of traffic rule violations have dropped drastically and yet, the fines have increased. This is a good sign of bringing discipline onto the roads.

Bangalore is one of the largest cities in India and has the largest number of two-wheelers. It is great to see an increase in discipline out on the roads.