It is very important to follow the traffic rules. Failure to do so may result in great loss to you and other people. Your carelessness can cost the life of someone else and also yours. You are always advised to drive your vehicle with responsibility. Now a steep fine gives you another reason to be careful.
If you do not follow the traffic rules, a challan of Rs 23000 can be deducted for your Scooter (scooty) as per the new traffic rules. For driving Scooty without your driving license, the fine is Rs 5000 fine. For driving without a registration certificate (RC), the fine is Rs 5000 challan, and driving without insurance will attract a fine of Rs 2000 challan. For breaking air pollution standards, you could be fined Rs 10000. And for driving without a helmet- you may have to face a fine of 1000 rupees.
A case dates back to September 2019, when the new traffic rules were implemented. At that time, Haryana resident Dinesh Madan’s challan of Rs 23000 was deducted while taking action against those who did not follow the rules. Dinesh Madan had called for the vehicle’s papers from his house, but the Haryana Traffic Police cut his challan by then. Dinesh Madan says that the total price of his scooty at this time was only 15000 rupees.
You don’t have to pay instant fines
If you also drive a two-wheeler, whether a motorcycle, Scooter or Activa and if the traffic police have issued your challan, then you will not have to pay money immediately.
According to the new Motor Vehicle Act, if you cannot show the RC, Insurance Certificate, Pollution, Driving License (DL) and Permit Certificate immediately on the demand of the traffic police, then it is not a crime. But if the challan is issued for not showing the documents immediately by the police, you can get this challan cancelled in court. You will not have to pay the fine.
According to section 139 of the new Motor Vehicle Act, the driver is given 15 days to produce the documents. The traffic police cannot immediately issue the challan of the driver. If the traffic police wrongly issue your challan, then it does not mean that you will have to pay the challan. Traffic police challan is not a court order. It can be challenged in court.
Seating children on motorcycles and scooters may have to pay a challan under this condition
According to the new Motor Vehicle Act, a child above four years will be counted as the third ride. In such a situation, if you are going to sit on your two-wheelers with your child and wife and the child’s age is more than four years, then your challan can be issued. According to section 194A of the Motor Vehicles Act, a challan of 1000 rupees can be deducted for violating this rule.
Driving with a child can also attract a challan. According to the new Motor Vehicle Act, if the child is more than four years old and is not wearing a helmet, a challan of 1000 rupees can be issued.
Talking on the phone while driving
You can talk on the phone while driving, but there is a catch. According to the traffic rules, no traffic police officer can deduct your challan for doing so if you are using a handsfree. If he does so then, you can challenge it in court. According to the rules, if a driver talks on his phone using the handsfree communication feature while driving, it will not be considered a punishable offence. For this, the driver will not have to pay any fine. This information was given by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways himself in the Lok Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha, Hibi Eden, a politician from Ernakulam in Kerala, had asked whether there is any penalty provision for using handsfree communication feature in motor vehicles under section 184 (c) of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. In response to this question, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that Section 184 (c) of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 provides punishment for hand-held communication devices while driving a motor vehicle. He added that no penalty is imposed on the use of handsfree communication devices in the vehicle.
What happens if you don’t pay the fine?
According to the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, if someone has not paid the fine for challan cut more than ten times, the police can confiscate his vehicle.
In November 2021, traffic police caught a person whose challan had been issued 117 times with a total amount of about Rs thirty thousand. Hyderabad Traffic Police found that the man had dodged fines for seven years during a routine vehicle check.
According to the e-challan website, most of the challans issued to the offender since 2014 were issued for driving without a helmet or for wrong parking. Apart from this, some challans were also related to not wearing face masks in public places while driving. Some fines are related to driving on the wrong side.
The police confiscated the two-wheeler and asked the offender to take his bike after paying the pending challan. A legal notice was also sent to the offender asking him to file the challan with interest; else, a charge sheet would be filed for confiscating his vehicle.
DigiLocker and MTransport
A driving license and other documents like registration certificates can be stored through Digi Locker or MTransport apps. You will not have to carry any documents in physical form. If the traffic police ask for a driving license or any other document, the driver can show the soft copy.
- There will be no physical verification of documents under the new traffic rules. Meaning no documents will have to be physically carried with you. If the traffic police ask for a driving license or any other document, the driver can show the soft copy.
- If the traffic officer wants to cancel the driving license, he can cancel the driving license through the web portal.
- Under the new Motor Vehicle Act, the behaviour of the driver will also be observed, and the identity of the police officer will also be updated in the portal.
- Whenever any vehicle or driver is inspected, its information will be uploaded on the portal.
- E-Challan will be issued for those who break the traffic rules.
Two-Wheeler Traffic Fines you should know
| Racing & Speeding – Section 189 | 5000 rupees |
| Overloading – Section194 | 20 thousand rupees and 2 thousand rupees per ton |
| Seat Belts – Section 194B | 1000 rupees |
| Driving without a permit – Section 192A | up to 10 thousand rupees |
| Violation of License Condition – Section 193 | 25 thousand to 1 lakh rupees |
| Overloading of Passenger – Section 194A | 1000 rupees per passenger |
| Overloading on two-wheeler | 2 thousand rupees and license cancelled for three months |
| Not wearing a helmet | 1000 rupees and license cancelled for three months |
| Failure to give way to an emergency vehicle – Section 194E | 10000 rupees |
| Driving without insurance – Section 196 | 2000 rupees |
| Power of officers to attach documents – Section 206 | Driving license under 183,184,185,189,190,194c,194D 194E will be canceled |
| Offences Committed by Enforcement of Officers – Section 210B | Twice fine under the relevant section |