A truck driver from Rajasthan was asked to pay Rs 1,41,600 as penalty under the amended Motor Vehicles Act after traffic authorities in Delhi caught him for several offences, including overloading, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.

The truck’s owner, Harman Ram Bhambhu from Bikaner, said that his driver was caught on September 5, after which the vehicle was seized. It was released four days later as he took time to arrange the amount, Bhambhu claimed.

Bhambhu said his driver was penalised Rs 20,000 for first one tonne of overloading, and Rs 2,000 for every additional tonne. A further Rs 10,000 each was levied for violation of registration certificate and permit rules. The owner was penalised a like amount, taking the total penalty to over Rs 1.41 lakh, according to the Hindustan Times.

Earlier, the penalty for overloading was Rs 2,000 for the first tonne, and Rs 1,000 for each additional tonne.

Amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act came into force on September 1. The legislation aims to remove corruption, improve road safety and use technology to regulate traffic. It also enforces stricter penalties for road traffic violations.

On the first day after the amended law was implemented, 39,000 drivers were fined for several offences, including for triple-riding, breaking pollution norms, and having tampered number plates. Over the past week, the Gurugram traffic police fined a two-wheeler rider Rs 23,000 for flouting multiple rules, while an auto driver was fined Rs 47,500 for traffic violations in Bhubaneswar and a truck driver in Odisha’s Sambalpur district was fined Rs 86,500.

Also read:

  1. New Motor Vehicles Act: Now a penalty of Rs 10,000 on drunk driving. Check new rules here
  2. ‘People will need loans to pay these fines’: New Motor Vehicles Act sparks tragicomic Twitter memes

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