Chief Minister set to convene meeting on September 21 to discuss way forward
The Motor Vehicles Department’s (MVD) enforcement drive is yet to assume its previous intensity in the district ever since it almost came to a grinding halt after there was confusion over the application of the new steep fine regime under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The checking was set to resume on Thursday in the wake of an increase in accidents and violations after the drive was stopped after the initial four days in September.
However, it continued in a sluggish manner in the district with the officials largely preferring to wait it out as the Chief Minister is set to convene a meeting on September 21 to discuss the way forward on implementing the provisions of the amended Act.
“We are largely avoiding issue of check reports and are either advising offenders to fall in line or referring the cases to courts. Even those who were willing to pay the fine are being asked to wait till next week to avoid a situation where we are either subjected to their wrath for having collected a larger fine than what is eventually decided by the government or end up facing audit objections if we collect an amount less than what is applicable,” a senior MVD official said on condition of anonymity.
‘No communication’
More than one official said apart from media reports they had not received any formal communication from the authorities concerned over resumption of vehicle checking as before. They were unanimous in complaining that the dilly-dallying over the application of new fines has weakened the enforcement drive.
“Traffic offences have increased manifold after witnessing a substantial drop when the new fine regime was strictly enforced at the beginning of the month,” said an official.
The confusion is so widespread that different arrangements seem to be in vogue in various parts of the district. An official said there was verbal direction from above to collect the old fine for petty offences such as not wearing helmets and seat belts and to stick with new fines in case of graver violations such as drunk driving and under-age driving. In some areas the enforcement drive continues to be at a standstill for want of clarity as officials said they wanted to avoid confrontations with motorists over the imposition of fines.