THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the protests against increased fines for traffic rule violations as per the new Motor Vehicles Act continue, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan came out in support of the hefty fines.
"I personally agree with the revised amounts. The current stands taken by political parties are motivated by many factors including the impending elections. The attempts at diluting the act is aimed at gaining temporary public support," said the minister while speaking to the media here on Friday.
The protests had caused the Central government to go back on the implementation of the revised fine amount. They have now asked the states to decide the fine amount for traffic rule violations.
According to the new act, the fine for not wearing helmet has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 1000. The penalty for not wearing seat belt is now Rs 1000 and for drunken driving the fine has been raised to Rs 10,000 from the earlier Rs 2000. In addition to this, the new act also includes imprisonment and licence cancellations.