Breaking rule in any manner is bound to attract punishment. The extremity of the punishment based on the type of the committed offence. With regards to violating traffic rules and regulation, citizens may be asked to pay hefty fines, imprisonment, or suspension of driving license. Breaking traffic rules and regulations in India can lead to serious road accidents and even death in worst cases. In the country, around five lakh accidents are happening each year, and over 1.5 lakh people die. Most of the accidents happen due to people’s lack of traffic sense.

In order to promote safe & sustainable mobility in India, the Indian government has introduced the amendment in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This act consists of 63 provisions that deal with licenses, penalties, registration, and the National Transport Policy. The new Motor Vehicles Act has increased the penalties for driving errors. This means that driving errors are definitely going to burn a big hole in your monthly budget and some of them may even cost you more than your fuel bill of a month.

On August 28^th, 2019, the ministry of transportation issued a notification, revealing the new traffic laws that are to be imposed with effect from September 1^st. 2019.

Here’s a list of offences & their revised penalties according to the latest amendments in the Indian Motor Vehicle Act.

Updated List of New Traffic Fines for Violations:

Offence	Old Penalty/Challan	New Penalty/Challan
General	First-time offence – Rs.100 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Rs. 300	First-time offence – Rs.500 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Rs. 1500
Violations of the Road Rules & Regulation	NA	Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000
Penalty for unauthorized use of vehicles without driving license	Rs. 1000	Rs. 5000
Driving a vehicle without driving license	Rs. 500	Rs. 5000
Disobedience of the Authority’s order & refusing to share the information	Rs. 500	Rs. 2000
Driving a Vehicle irrespective of  disqualification	Rs. 500	Rs. 10,000
Over-speeding	Rs. 400	Rs. 1000 – Rs. 2000 for light motor vehicle Rs. 2000 – Rs. 4000 for Medium Goods Vehicle & impounding of license for subsequent/second offence.
Rash/Dangerous Driving	NA	First-time offence – Imprisonment of 6 months to 1 year and/or penalty of  Rs. 1000 – Rs. 5000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of 2 years and/or penalty of  Rs. 10,000
Driving under the influence of alcohol	Rs. 2000	First-time offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of  6 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 10,000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of 2 years and/or penalty of  Rs. 15,000
Over-sized vehicles	NA	Rs. 5000
Driving when physically or mentally unfit	First-time offence – Rs.200 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Rs. 500	First-time offence – Rs.1000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Rs. 2000
Driving offences related to the accident	NA	First-time offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of  6 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 5,000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of 1 year and/or penalty of  Rs. 10,000
Driving without a motor insurance policy	Penalty of Rs.1000 and/or Imprisonment of a maximum of 3 months	First-time offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of  3 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 2,000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of 3 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 4,000
Speeding & Racing	Rs. 500	First-time offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of  3 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 5,000 Second-time/Subsequent Offence – Imprisonment of a maximum of 1 year and/or penalty of  Rs. 10,000
Overloading	Rs 2000 & Rs.1000 per extra tone	Rs 20,000 & Rs.2000 per extra tone
Overloading of passengers	NA	Rs. 1,000 per extra passenger
Overloading of two-wheelers	Rs. 100	Rs. 2000 as well as disqualification of driving license for three months
Driving without wearing a seat belt	Rs. 100	Rs. 1000
Not Wearing Helmet	Rs. 100	Rs. 1000 as well as disqualification of driving license for three months
Not giving way for emergency vehicles (such as ambulances)	NA	Imprisonment of 6 months and/or penalty of  Rs. 10,000
Offences by Juveniles	NA	Imprisonment of 3 years with a penalty of Rs. 25,000 for which Guardian/owner of the vehicle shall be deemed to be guilty.
Power of officers to impound documents	NA	Suspension of license

Here’re the details:

Driving without DL: Now don’t dare to take your vehicle out on the roads without a DL. The fines for this will be Rs. 5000. Earlier it was Rs. 500 only.

Speed Limit: Speed always leads to severe condition. If speeding excites you then be prepare to pay a hefty cost of Rs. 4000 depending on the type of vehicle you are riding.

Rash Driving: Rash driving leading to endless road accidents on daily basis. The penalty for this has been raised to 1 year imprisonment/or fine of Rs. 1,000-5,000 (for first traffic rule violation) and up to 2 years imprisonment or fine of Rs. 10,000 for the second time offence.

Driving while Drinking: Partying with your friends has no harm unless you break the rules. Usually driving when you are drunk can lead to serious road incidents where you don’t only stake your life but the others as well. The penalty for this has be increased to Rs. 10,000.

Overloading of Pillion Riders: Tripling is so common in India. But next time you are up to overload your bike, think twice about the fines imposed. It is Rs. 20,000 now, which was earlier on Rs. 2000. A huge amount to bring a big hole into your pocket. Also, your DL will be deactivated for 3 months.

Has to pay a lot for being Noncompliant: Defying orders from the authorities will lead to a fine of between Rs. 500 to Rs 2,000.

Driving Uninsured Vehicle: Insured your vehicle is second most important thing after registering it. As it is mandatory in India, an uninsured vehicle could cost you a fine of either Rs. 1000 or imprisonment up o 3 months or Rs. 2000 and/or imprisonment up to 3 months. In case repeated offense, the fine will be increased.

Juvenile Traffic Lawbreakers: In case of juvenile who breaks the rule, the parent or guardian of that juvenile will be found guilty. In such a case, they guilty will be put behind the bars for 3 years with a fine of Rs. 25,000. The RC will be cancelled as well for a duration of 1 year. Moreover, the juvenile will be restrained from obtaining learner’s license until he/she attains the age 25 years.

Juvenile Fine: For juveniles, found violating traffic rules, the guardian or owner of that juvenile will be considered guilty and will be put behind bars for up to three years, including a penalty of Rs 25,000 and cancellation of registration of the motor vehicle for 12 months. The juvenile will also become ineligible to obtain learners' license until the age of 25 years.

Driving without Helmet: The fine for this will be Rs. 1000 and suspension of license for 3 months.

Using Phone while Driving: Fine of Rs 1,000-5000 is to be imposed on those are found talking to phone while driving

Avoiding an Ambulance: Drivers will be fined with Rs. 10,000 for not giving a way to ambulance on roads.

Overloaded Vehicles: Vehicles that are overloaded with passengers will invite fine of Rs. 20,000.

Conclusion

The amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 have been made to make people aware of the traffic rules & regulations. Hopefully, now people would give a second thought before riding their two-wheeler without wearing helmets, seatbelts or without a valid auto insurance policy. In short, before committing any offence that violates traffic rules, double check it.

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