K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR,) the Chief Minister of Telangana, refused to implement the new Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, in Telangana.
The new Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, which was implemented by the Government of India (GoI,) imposes heavy fines and strict punishment for violating traffic rules across India, except in a few States. Apart from Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal also refused to implement the Act.
KCR addressed the media on the 15th of September and announced the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led State Government will not enforce the Act as they do not “intend to harass people.”
Mr. Rao made the announcement during the ongoing Budget session, which began on the 11th of September.
The Parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on the 31st of July, which came into effect from the 1st of September. The reason for implementing such heavy fines for traffic violations is to improve the safety of the citizens and create awareness about traffic rules.
States like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra implemented the new Motor Vehicles Act and started taking heavy fines from people.
Recently, in Delhi, an owner of a two wheeler set his bike ablaze after the traffic police fined him a hefty amount for violating traffic rules.
In another such incident on the 16th of September, the Gurugram Traffic Police fined a two wheeler rider Rs. 23,000 for not wearing a helmet, not possessing the required vehicle documents such as license, registration of his vehicle and pollution certificate.
Traffic police across India recorded approximately 39,000 cases on the first day of the implementation of the new Act.
Despite the efforts of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central Government, states like Telangana, Punjab and West Bengal will not implement the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 and will come up with their own traffic laws.
Stay tuned for further updates.
