More than 38 lakh challans have been issued and fines worth Rs 577 crore have been collected since the new Motor Vehicles Act was implemented, Centre told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

In a written reply, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the lower House that the data is based on the database of NIC (VAHAN, SARATHI) and the data pertains to 18 States and Union Territories.

Announcing the exact numbers, he said that 38,39,406 challans have been issued and Rs 5,77,51,79,895 collected so far after the Centre revised penalties under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

"Actual revenue is not available," he said, adding that the challans are being referred to courts.

The data pertains to Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana.

He further stated that the number of deaths due to road accidents came down during September-October compared to the same period last year.

Of the data available for nine states, Puducherry saw the highest reduction in fatalities at -30.7%. Only Chhattisgarh saw a rise in deaths.

Ever since higher penalties for traffic violations came into effect from September 1 after the implementation of provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the nation has erupted with reports of exorbitant amounts of fines being levied on citizens for violations of traffic rules, often tenfold higher than the previous rates.