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Overloading: Farmers may get away with less fine
Lucknow: Farmers in Uttar Pradesh may get away with a lesser fine on being caught carrying tractor-trolleys overloaded with sugarcane, fodder etc as the UP government
Lucknow: Farmers in Uttar Pradesh may get away with a lesser fine on being caught carrying tractor-trolleys overloaded with sugarcane, fodder etc as the UP government has decided to give a heavy discount to them in the compounding fee to be prescribed for overloading and other offences. This when others may have to pay a heavy price for committing the same offence.
Overloading attracts hefty penalty under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 that came into effect in the country on September 1.
Around four months after the amended MV Act came into force in the country effecting manifold increase in the fines, the transport department is going to revise the compounding fees that an offender can pay in lieu of the fine prescribed in the Act for compoundable offences, including overloading.
The proposal for revision of the compounding fees in the light of the fines under the amended MV Act is expected to be put to the Cabinet for its approval very soon.
The government has sought data from around half a dozen concerning departments before preparing the Cabinet note and put the same before the cabinet. These departments include Transport, Home, PWD, Health and Sugarcane.
“We will send the proposal for the revision of compounding fees to Cabinet as soon as we get the information from all the department,” principal secretary, transport, Rajesh Kumar Singh said adding, “We are considering to give some concession to farmers to save them from burden.”
Though he was not forthcoming on the details, sources in the transport department said there was a proposal to charge a lesser compounding fee from farmers if they are caught carrying goods like sugarcane and straw in tractor-trolleys and trucks in excess of the load permissible under the law.
“The compounding fee with regard to overloading offence will be bifurcated into two parts—one for farmers and the other for the rest of the people,” sources disclosed.
The MV (Amendment) Act, 2019 provides for a fine upto ₹20,000 for the offence of overloading plus ₹2,000 for each extra ton. Earlier, fine was only ₹2,000 plus ₹1,000 per extra ton.
Compounding fee is always less than the fine and normally 50% less. Going by this criteria, compounding fee for overloading may be fixed at ₹10,000.
“But for farmers to pay ₹10,000 as compounding fee will be too high. Hence, in their case the compounding fee is proposed to be different from one applicable to others,” sources said.
