Due to the new Motor Vehicle Act, drivers have become victims of hefty penalties for violating traffic rules, however a record penalty was charged to a man in Rajasthan on September 9. A truck driver in Rajasthan was fined a whopping Rs 1.41 lakh by the Rohini Circle police. From the picture of the challan, it is known that the driver was driving a heavy-duty TATA truck and was caught for overloading the truck. This penalty is the highest so far, after drivers in several states were fined in thousands.

Read: Traffic Fines: Here Are All The New Penalties Under Motor Vehicles Act

Hefty Penalties due to New Motor Vehicles Act

On September 3, a truck driver carrying a JCB machine in Odisha was fined Rs 86, 500 for violating several traffic rules. The fine was broken down into various charges like penalised for allowing an unauthorized person to drive (Rs 5,000), driving without a license (Rs 5,000), overloading with an excess of 18 tonnes (Rs 56,000), carrying over dimension projections (Rs 20,000) and general offence (Rs 500). The truck was owned by a Nagaland based private company called BLA Infrastructure Private Limited. After negotiating with the authorities for over five hours the driver paid a penalty of Rs. 70,000.

Read: Odisha Truck Driver Fined Rs 86,500 For Several Traffic Violations

The traffic police in Bengaluru have collected over Rs. 72 lakhs as fine within a week after the new Motors Vehicles Act was implemented. According to the report, 6,813 cases of traffic violation were registered and a total amount of Rs 72,49,900 was collected from the violaters. The most common traffic rules violated included not wearing a helmet, pillion riding, driving without a seatbelt and using mobile phones while driving. Now, the Bengaluru traffic police have started to conduct awareness campaigns on social media and in colleges to inform citizens about the new traffic rules.

Read: Bengaluru Traffic Police Collected Rs. 72 Lakhs As Fines In A Week

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Justifies MV Act

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, on Saturday spoke about the hike in penalties and said the new Motor Vehicles Act will force people to follow the law. He also shared that the new rules were meant for maintaining the safety of commuters. Gadkari assured the citizens that the motive of the MV Act is not collection of fines but the safety of people.

Read: Odisha Government May Approach The Centre For Amendments In MV Act