NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police recorded 3,900 traffic violators after the amended Motor Vehicles Act came into effect on Sunday. According to the figures available with Delhi Traffic Police, a total of 45 drunken driving cases were reported, 557 challans of dangerous driving, 42 challans of over-speeding, 207 challans of red light jumping, 195 seat belt violations, 28 triple riding, 336 without helmet were reported on Sunday.
“We have not compounded any challans. (As of now,) police don’t have the power so all these challans have been sent to court. The challan cannot be paid on the spot. Till the GNCT notifies, the police officers will keep issuing challans and keep sending them to e-courts. Till then we will seize the documents,” Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic) Narendra Singh Bundela said.
The officer said that because the documents were being seized and the challans were not being paid on the spot, it took “more procedural time” causing a drop in the number of challans issued. He further said the amended MV Act should act as a deterrence on traffic violations. In July this year, the parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to tighten road traffic regulations such as the issuance of driving licence and imposed stricter penalties for violations in an attempt to improve road safety.
Section 200 of MV Act authorizes the Delhi government to issue a gazette notification for compounding of certain offences, indicating as to who will be the person who can compound the offence.Under the new law, people not wearing helmets or seat-belts will be fined Rs 1,000, which was Rs 100 earlier, while those driving without a licence can be fined Rs 5,000 or face three-month jail.