West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that she will not implement the new Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act in the state citing a steep increase in traffic violation penalties.

Mamata Banerjee said, "I cannot implement this Motor Vehicle Act right now because our govt officials are of the opinion that if we implement it, it will overburden people."

Mamata Banerjee had earlier rejected steeper penalties as part of the new amendments to the MV Act as it would distress commuters.

Not just West Bengal but many other states have raised concern over the steep penalties under the new traffic regulations.

There have been several incidents over the past few days when vehicle owners and drivers have been charged hefty fines, some above Rs 50,000. On Tuesday, cops in Delhi issued a Rs 1.41 lakh challan to a Rajasthan truck driver for overloading vehicle.

While states like Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan had also raised concern over higher penalties, Gujarat government on Tuesday drastically reduced the penalties for traffic violation under the fresh act.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the fines laid down under the act were the maximum suggested and added that the government has decided to reduce them.

Under the new Act, a person riding without a helmet is required to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. The Gujarat government has brought it down to Rs 500.

Similarly, the state government also slashed penalty for driving without licence from Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,000 for two-wheelers and Rs 3,000 for four-wheelers. In total, the Gujarat government has reduced the fines fixed under the new rules by almost 90 per cent.

However, Minister for Road Transport & Highways of India Nitin Gadkari defended the higher penalties and appealed to states to refrain from reducing the penalties that have been fixed.

"This isn't a revenue income scheme, are you not worried about the deaths of 1,50,000 people?" Gadkari questioned without naming any state.