Motorists stumped by hiked traffic fines on the first day

MUMBAI: Increased penalties for traffic violations were rolled out across the city on Tuesday , catching most motorists by surprise.

The new penalties were announced by the state government in the legislative assembly earlier this month as an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act. For instance, racing attracts the highest fine of Rs 2,000; previously it was as low as Rs 300. The traffic police are also collecting phone numbers of motorists to update the transport department's database to make it easier to levy e-challans in future.

Signs displaying the new penalties had been put up at key locations and petrol pumps a few days ago. But motorists still remained clueless. “If I had known about this earlier, I would certainly have been more careful,“ said auto driver Mohammad, who was intercepted on Kandivli's MG Road for rash driving.Mohammad had to shell out Rs 1,000 which dented his earnings for the day .

There were some who argued with the cops. “A motorist said that increasing fines made no sense. We had to carry cards displaying the change in fines as motorists would not believe us. They clicked pictures of the signs to find out how genuine they were,“ a traffic sub-inspector said.

Experts said the stiffer fines could prove to be a deterrent. “Fines for offences like speeding and rash driving used to be low and people didn't care. They would throw currency notes at our constables and continue violating the rules,“ said an officer.“Helmetless riding is often dismissed as a petty offence.With a hike in fines, youngsters would be more careful as they would have to approach their parents for the money ,“ said senior inspector Bhagwan Darade of the Kandivli traffic outpost.

The Union cabinet has approved a bill proposing hiking the penalty for drunk driving from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. But the Maharashtra government has not amended the fine for this offence. It stays Rs 2,000.

For their ambitious e challan project, the traffic police need mobile numbers of all motorists but the RTO database is not updated prior to 2013. “E-challans would be sent in the form of a text message. Besides this, a motorist's contact details are essential in case of vehicle theft or accident. We are collecting these details during regular nakabandis,“ an officer said.