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Odisha bus owner fined ₹6.72 lakh for MV Act violation
A senior transport official of Boudh said the bus owned by one Talat Parween of Bhubaneswar had a pending road tax from March 1, 2018, amounting to ₹6.5 lakh.
A bus owner in Odisha was fined ₹6.72 lakh under the amended Motor Vehicle Act on Thursday, the highest penalty so far, over non-payment of road tax and a litany of violations.
The violations surfaced when the bus carrying 27 passengers from Boudh to Bhubaneswar was intercepted by transport department officials in Boudh on February 3 for checking of documents.
A senior transport official of Boudh said the bus owned by one Talat Parween of Bhubaneswar had a pending road tax from March 1, 2018, amounting to ₹6.5 lakh.
“With penalty for fitness certificate, general offence, permit conditions and insurance added, the total penalty ran up to ₹6.72 lakh,” said the official. The bus was seized by the transport department officials after the issuance of a challan.
In August last year, a Nagaland truck owner was penalised a staggering ₹6.53 lakh in western Odisha district of Sambalpur for a litany of violations as per the old Motor Vehicles Act 2019.
In another case, two minors, aged 12 and 16, were fined with ₹30,000 each after they were caught driving two-wheelers in Sambalpur district, on Thursday.
The duo was caught during regular traffic checking at Ainthapali. Each of them was fined with ₹5000 for driving without valid Driver’s License and ₹25,000 under section 1992 (A) offences by juveniles.
The slapping of penalty on violators of the amended MV Act since March 1 has triggered uproar with opposition Congress calling it harassment of public. Alleging that RTO officials, police and traffic personnel were misbehaving with the public, mostly women and girls, Congress MLA Suresh Routray threatened to immolate himself if the government did not reduce the penalty.
“Several women, who were fined for several violations, were pleading that they were going to the hospital or to drop their children to school for exams. The government should learn how to behave with people. Such kind of misbehaviour towards women and girls will not be tolerated,” said Routray.
