It is always advisable to abide by traffic rules, it not only promotes safe driving practices but also saves motorists from hefty traffic fines from authorities. Ever since the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act of 2019 became effective across the country on September 1 two years ago, several cases of traffic violations have come down. Several state governments were not in favour of penalising traffic rule violators with hefty fines as per the amended Act. However, the Maharashtra state government implements the amended MV Act, with hiked compounding fees for traffic offences on Sunday.

According tothe information received from the Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), in two days Sunday and Monday, the traffic department issued close to 58,000 e-challans to motorists across the state, reported The Indian Express.In the process, they collected fines worth a staggering Rs 4.5 crore.

The result of implementing the new traffic rule worked like magic as drivers in the country’s financial capital Mumbai too fell in line to avoid the refreshed fines. Here’s a low down on the new hiked fines for traffic offences.

As per the new penalties, the compounding fees is in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 25,000 for various offences, which also include jail time for many of them. For instance, violators will have to pay Rs 1,000 for driving without a seatbelt in Mumbai and shell out Rs 5,000 for driving without a valid driving license in the metro city. There are specific rate of fines when it comes to over speeding – for a LMV, it amounts to Rs 1,000, while for other four-wheelers such as MPVs it is Rs 2,000.

Offenders will have to pay Rs 10,000 compounding fees and face up to six months of jail in case of a DUI (driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol). However, the amount is relatively high in case of juvenile offense, you will be charged Rs 25,000 and three months of prison time.

Driving without vehicle insurance gets your Rs 2,000 fine and three months jail. And caught driving without a valid license on Mumbai roads will attract a fine of Rs 5,000.

A fine between Rs 2,000 – Rs 4,000 will be issued if you accidentally honk in silent zone/s, while riding two-wheelers without a helmet will cost you Rs 1,000 along with three months of community service, the new notification stated.