KOCHI: Though the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has started imposing hefty fines under the newly amended Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 for the road violation from September 1, the new act will be strictly enforced only after Onam celebrations in the state.
Several persons who were booked under the new act requested the department to provide one-week additional time for paying the hefty penalty, said officers. Speaking to Express, Rajeev Puthalath, Joint Transport Commissioner, said the department had already constituted a special squad under the Enforcement RTOs in each district to implement the new order.
“Though we have imposed the newly penalties, many of the motorists have sought additional time for paying the fine. Since it is a hefty amount, many of them have some difficulty paying it. So, we have decided to provide a time gap of nearly a week to strictly implement the order. However, the routine drive will be held across the state and violators will be booked,” said the JTC.
Meanwhile, the MVD collected a compound fee of Rs 26.95 lakh through its drive from September 1 to 4. “The new rule has a positive impact among the motorists as many of them started following the rule. When we conducted a study in Alappuzha district it was found that the number of accidents had come down by nearly 10-15 per cent. It is a positive sign,” said Shibu K Itty, Alappuzha RTO and Nodal officer of Safe Kerala Project.
According to him, the department is focusing not on revenue generation but on reducing the number of accidents through imposing the high penalty rate. “Collecting a heavy fine is not our priority. Through imposing these fines we are working hard to make the public aware of the safety guidelines and thereby reduce the accidents,” said Shibu.