A truck driver in New Delhi was charged Rs 2.05 lakh under the amended Motor Vehicles Act for allegedly overloading his vehicle. The incident took place in Mubarka area of New Delhi, ANI reported.

The amended Act, whose provisions came into effect on September 1, provides for an increase in penalty for overloading from Rs 2,000 to 20,000 for the first tonne after the limit. For each tonne beyond that, the penalty has been raised from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.

The driver of the truck, apart from overloading his vehicle, also lacked a driving licence, a registration certificate, fitness certificate, a permit, insurance certification and a pollution certificate, The Times of India reported. The truck driver was also fined for not covering the construction material.

“As per court guidelines, the truck was fined an additional Rs 20,000 for not covering the construction material it was carrying, which results in oil pollution,” a transport department official said. “Overloaded trucks are one of the most dangerous vehicles on the road and lead to fatal accidents in many cases. We carry out special drives against overloaded trucks. While we had caught and fined the truck on Wednesday night, the truck owner paid the total fine amount of Rs 2.05 lakh in a Rohini court on Thursday.”

On September 5, a truck driver from Rajasthan had been charged a fine of Rs 1.41 lakh. 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.

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