Thiruvananthapuram: Transport minister A.K. Saseendran on Monday said that the state would wait till the Centre takes a decision on the hefty fines for violating traffic rules as per the amended Motor Vehicles Act.
After a high-level meeting with senior officials of the motor vehicles and transport department here, the minister said the state would write to the Centre seeking more clarification on the issue. The MPs from Kerala have also been asked to intervene.
The Centre is reportedly considering proposals for empowering the state governments to make changes in the present structure of fines. The Prime Minister has also intervened in the matter following the strong reservations expressed by various state governments.
"In case if there is a new order issued by central government tomorrow, we will have to examine it and take a decision on implementation all over again. Under these circumstances we have decided to wait for the moment," said Mr Saseendran.
The officials here said that the Centre should ideally bring an ordinance empowering the state governments to reduce the exorbitant fines. The government is of the opinion that the hefty fines should not be imposed for the moment. However, the motor vehicles department and police would carry out inspection to ensure that people do not take advantage of the lean period and resort to blatant violation of traffic rules.
The officials have been directed to intensify awareness programmes on the violation and the fines imposed under the new law. Earlier, the transport department had suggested levying of low fine for first offence and full fine from second violation onwards. For example, instance if a person is caught riding without helmet, the officials will levy a fine of Rs 100 and register it as a first offence. If the same person repeated the same offence again, the officials will levy the higher fine of Rs 1,000.
However, the department has taken a stand that the fines for drunken driving and reckless driving cannot be reduced. In the case of drunken driving, one can be jailed up to six months with a fine of Rs 10,000. For a repeat offender, the fine will be Rs 15,000 with two years of jail term. However, with the Centre likely to come out with clarity on the issue soon, the state government wants to adopt and wait and watch policy.
