india

Updated: Sep 17, 2019 12:16 IST

In a first of its kind penalty after the recently-amended Motor Vehicle Act came into force, Odisha’s transport department officials have imposed a stiff penalty of Rs 1 lakh on a Bhubaneswar-based two-wheeler dealer for selling a scooter without a registration number.

Though the penalty was imposed on September 12, it became public when the notice of the same became viral on social media.

The two-wheeler, a Honda Activa, was purchased from Bhubaneswar’s Khimji Honda dealer by Kabita Panda on August 28. Road transport officials of Cuttack intercepted the vehicle on September 12 at Barang area during a routine check and impounded it as it did not have a registration number.

RTO officials in Cuttack then levied a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the dealer for violating the MV Act and recommended their counterparts in Bhubaneswar to cancel the trade licence of the dealer.

State transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said under the old MV Act, as well as a new one, the dealer must get the registration number, insurance and pollution certificates before delivering any vehicle to the buyer.

“The penalty amounts have gone up under the MV Act, but it is always the responsibility of the dealer to ensure that he does not handover the vehicle without registration number,” said Panda.

“It’s not like an over the counter item that you use after paying the money. The dealers, as well as people who are buying the vehicles, have to get all the documents before getting the vehicle on road,” he said.

In another incident of MV Act violation, a sub-inspector of Bhubaneswar Police was asked to pay a penalty of Rs 5000 for carrying two pillion riders on his two-wheeler. Some Twitter users first brought the issue of triple riding of sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Bhanj to the notice of city police commissioner Sudhansu Sarangi. Bhanj was then asked to pay the fine.

Last week, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced partial relaxation for motorists for next three months after police faced mob fury in Bhubaneswar over hefty challans under the Motor Vehicles Act. The relaxation period has been provided to motorists in order to allow time for preparing all the required documents.

From the day of the roll-out of the Act on September 1, Odisha has reportedly collected a penalty of over Rs 1 crore from errant motorists under the MV Act with auto-rickshaw driver and two-wheeler riders fined anything between Rs 23,000 to Rs 47,500. A truck driver in Sambalpur was fined Rs 70,000 for a slew of violations under the MV Act, including overloading.

The enforcement activities by the transport authorities and police have triggered large-scale resentment. Several have highlighted a lack of awareness drives by the state government before setting the new MV Act into motion.