It was recently reported the Telangana State Police collected a hefty amount of Rs. 121.3 crores as fines imposed on traffic rule violators in 2019.
The amount was collected in relation to approximately 25,02,746 cases booked under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. Out of the 25,02,746 cases, nearly 11,31,712 cases were of overspeeding and 9,56,394 cases were of unlawful parking of vehicles on highways and other roads.
The Telangana Police decided to crack down on the people who are violating traffic rules by parking their vehicles in the wrong manner, overspeeding and overloading goods on vehicles. The Telangana Traffic Police started strict checking in 2019 after the Central Government imposed heavy penalties for violating traffic rules. The reason the Telangana Traffic Police did so was the increasing number of accidents in the State.
The implementation of these strict penalties was, however, questioned. K.M. Laxman Rao, the Head of the Transportation and Engineering Centre of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU,) asked, “How can the police collect fines from motorists when the administration is not providing proper roads and other amenities including parking areas?” He further added, “Collecting fine from those resorting to drunk driving is appropriate. But, imposing penalties for other violations is not advisable as there are no facilities on several major roads.”
In early 2020, the Telangana Traffic Police Department revealed the amount collected by them during 2019.
Between January 2019 and June 2019, Telangana recorded approximately 1,258 accidents and 135 deaths on road due to accidents.
