Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala state government is likely to refrain from imposing the revised fines for traffic violations until further clarifications are made, said state Transport Minister AK Saseendran on Wednesday.
Saseendran’s decision comes close on the heels of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari’s statement in which he said that he has “no problem with states reducing the traffic fines.”
Welcoming the Centre's decision, Saseendran said that the government is further "awaiting orders". The Pinarayi Vijayan government has already sought legal recourse from the Advocate General and constituted a panel headed by Transport Commissioner R Sreelekha to look into ways to reduce the rates. The panel also consists secretaries of Law and Traffic departments.
Ever since the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force on September 1, the public has been up in arms against the hike in fines, with the state of roads remaining unchanged coupled with traffic snarls in several places.
In just six days, a whopping Rs 46 lakhs was collected for driving errors ever since the new law was instituted.
Both the ruling and opposition fronts are irked over the Amendment that was put into force without consulting the states. The government has also been criticised for rushing into implementing the fines with many states yet to pay heed to the amendment.
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