Driving in West Bengal? Be ready to pay more fine for traffic violations

The government of West Bengal has decided to hike traffic violation fines in the state as per the Motor Vehicles Act, a recent notification stated. The move is aimed at reducing the number of road accidents in the state. Though the Centre had increased the traffic violation fines in 2019, the West Bengal government had not implemented them in the system until now.

Penalty for driving a car without a licence has been increased to ₹5,000 from the previous fine of ₹500. Similarly, one driving recklessly will have to pay a fine of up to ₹4,000 from the earlier ₹400, the notification issued by the state Transport Department stated. The fines were kept low earlier considering the "difficulties faced by the common man".

For violating driving rules while on the road, one has to pay an amount between ₹500 and ₹1,000 while ₹2,000 will have to be paid for lapsed car insurance and ₹5,000 for racing on the road. A penalty of ₹10,000 will be imposed if any vehicle plies without road permit and ₹5,000 if it's not registered. If a motorcycle rider is found without a helmet, the penalty to be paid will be ₹1,000. Further, a fine between ₹2,000 and ₹4,000 will be imposed for honking in a silent zone.

Overall, the state transport department has increased amount of fine for a total of 26 traffic violations. The new guidelines will come into effect soon. Traffic police personnel and motor vehicle inspectors can collect the fines. "The hike will on one hand increase revenue of the government, and on the other, lead people to follow rules," a police personnel said.

Last month, the Maharashtra government issued a notification saying that it has hiked fees for various traffic offences, as per the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019.

(with inputs from PTI)