From Sunday, Delhi traffic cops authorised to levy on-spot fines

Six months since the amended Motor Vehicles Act (MV Act) came into force, the Delhi government Friday notified the penalties for compoundable traffic offences, clearing

Six months since the amended Motor Vehicles Act (MV Act) came into force, the Delhi government Friday notified the penalties for compoundable traffic offences, clearing the way for traffic police to issue challans which motorists can pay up on the spot.

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Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government decided not to change the increased penalties prescribed by the central government in the amended law to ensure road safety and better compliance of the rules.

Hindustan Times had on March 8 reported that the Delhi government was going to notify the penalties soon as it had received the approval of the Lieutenant Governor last week.

“The Delhi government has kept the fines of the compoundable traffic offences at the highest slabs as prescribed under the new MV Act. Around 40 compoundable offences have been notified. To set an example that there will be zero tolerance for those who do not adhere to the road safety rules, our notification also states that enforcement officers violating the MV Act will have to pay double the prescribed penalties,” Gahlot said.

In compoundable offences, traffic fines can be paid on the spot. However, every motorist who will be issued a challan under a compoundable offence will also have an option to get a court challan issued instead. “In case the motorist feels that he/she did not violate any rule or questions the police on evidence, s/he can seek a court challan,” said a traffic police official.

The agencies empowered to impose traffic challans in Delhi are the traffic police and the enforcement officers of the state transport department.

The amended MV rules came into effect from September 1, 2019. In Delhi, all prosecutions are being issued in the form of court challans since the past six months because the state government had not notified the penalties for compoundable offences.

As a result, the number of prosecutions in cases of traffic violations on Delhi roads also saw a sharp decline of over 35.6% since the implementation of the new Act. From September to December last year, the total prosecutions by the Delhi Traffic Police were 715,000, against over 2 million between the same months in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Traffic officials said the reason for the fall in the number of prosecutions in Delhi after the amended MV Act cannot be solely attributed to the increased compliance by motorists who, they said, now fear the hefty fines.

“Compoundable traffic offences constitute 95% of all the traffic offences in the national capital. Since the city traffic department was not given compounding powers by the Delhi government, all cases were being sent to courts. This increased the burden on traffic personnel and at the same time affected enforcement,” a senior traffic police officer said.

“With the Delhi government’s notification, now a lot of our staff will be relieved of court duty and will be deputed on the roads for traffic management,” another official said.

Under the amended MV Act notified by the central government, violators have to pay ₹5,000 for talking on the phone while driving. Similarly, taking a car or two-wheeler on a no entry road would attract a fine of ₹20,000.