Taking inspiration from Gujarat, Uttarakhand too announced reducing fine amounts fixed in the new Motor Vehicles Act and passed recently in the parliament. The cabinet meeting of the Trivendra Singh Rawat government was conducted in Dehradun on Wednesday evening and a major time was spent on discussing amendment to be made in the new Motor Vehicles Act.

Most of the penalties were reduced by 50 to 75 percent. For riding without a helmet and driving without wearing seatbelt a fine of Rs 1,000 will be imposed. The penalty for driving without license has been slashed from Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,500. On found dangerously driving vehicle, first time Rs 1000 fine will be imposed and repeat it will invite higher fine of Rs 2,000. Pollution and sound pollution penalty has been reduced from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,500.

Uttarakhand’s urban development minister and state government spokesperson Madan Kaushik disclosed the compounding rate in Dehradun on Wednesday. In case a minor is caught driving he/she will be fined Rs 2,500 instead of Rs 5,000. For wrong registration (number plate) one will have pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 10,000.

Even the fine for using mobile phone while driving has been reduced to Rs 1,000 for the first time violator and repeating it will invite higher fine of Rs 5,000. The Uttarakhand government has made no change in section 177, 178, 178 (2), 178 (3) and 112 of the Motor Vehicle.

Anybody found performing stunt biking and speeding will be penalized Rs 5,000.

Providing some relief to the jeep and other commercial vehicle operators, for overloading and carrying more passengers than approved number, the violators will have to pay a penalty Rs 200 per passenger.

For triple riding the fine has been fixed to Rs 1,000 and license suspension for three months. For driving two-wheeler with pillion rider without helmet the fine has been fixed to Rs 1,000 and license suspension for three months.

The new Motor Vehicles Act had created panic among the commercial vehicle operators and opposing it they kept their vehicles off-road on Wednesday. With the new compounding rates the state government has made an effort to provide some relief to commercial vehicle operators.