Kochi: While a total of 63 clauses of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, came into force in the state on Sunday, the new provision on juvenile driving will be the toughest.
“We’ve started implementing the changes dealing with penalties, licenses and registration among others after the state government issued the notification on Saturday ev-ening,” Rajeev Puthalath, joint transport commissioner (enforcement), told this newspaper.
The parents or vehicle owners shall be held guilty in case of an offence by a juvenile. They will attract a fine of Rs 25,000 with three years of imprisonment while the underage driver will be tried under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
“If the parent argues that the juvenile rode the vehicle without his permission or knowledge, the onus of proving the same lies squarely on the parent. Further, the registration of the vehicle will be cancelled for a year. The juvenile could take driving licence only when he attains 25 years of age instead of the usual 18,” the official said.
As per the notification, all officers of and above the rank of assistant motor vehicle inspector of the motor vehicle department and officers of and above the grade of sub-inspectors of the police department are authorised to implement the amended provisions.
Under the new provision, the penalty for drink driving has been increased to six months imprisonment and/or a fine of Rs 10,000 for the first offence and two years' imprisonment and/or a fine of Rs 15,000 for the second offence.
The current penalty is Rs 2,000.
The penalty for racing and speeding has been increased to imprisonment of up to a month and/or a fine of up to Rs 500 for first offence and imprisonment of up to a month and/or a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 for the second offence.
Driving while using a mobile phone is liable for penalty of Rs 5,000 while driving without license will invite a fine of Rs 5,000 (Rs 500 old rate), driving without insurance Rs 2,000 (Rs 1,000), riding without helmet/ wearing seatbelt Rs 1,000 (Rs 100), obstructing emergency Rs 10, 000, overloading Rs 2000 and dangerous driving Rs 5000.
