india

Updated: Sep 14, 2019 15:53 IST

In what could be the biggest-ever fine in recent times, Odisha transport officials challaned a Nagaland truck owner a staggering amount of Rs 6.53 lakh for a litany of violations as per the old rates before the amended Motor Vehicles Act 2019 came into force.

Though transport officials in Sambalpur district had levied the fine on August 10, the matter came to light after the photo of the challan went viral on social media.

Sambalpur Regional Transport Officer Lalit Mohan Behera said on August 10 that transport officials intercepted a truck registered in Nagaland while it was obstructing traffic. “When we checked the vehicle’s papers, we found the truck had not paid its road tax since 2014 which amounted to Rs 6.4 lakh under the Odisha Motor Vehicles Taxation Act. It also did not have insurance, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, permits and carried passengers violating the conditions. So we levied a penalty of Rs 6.53 lakh under the old MV Act,” said Behera.

The truck was being driven by Dilip Karta from Jharsuguda and is owned by Shailesh Shankar Kumar Lal Gupta of Bethel Colony, Phek Town in Nagaland. The truck is still under detention at Sambalpur as the owner is yet to pay the penalty.

The RTO said under the amended MV Act, the truck owner would have had to pay close to Rs 7 lakh as fines for offences like driving without insurance and pollution certificates have gone up several times.

On September 3, transport officials in Sambalpur had penalised another truck driver for Rs 86000 under the new MV Act for overloading as well as driving without valid licence among other offences. Though the total fine amount came to a staggering Rs 86,500, the driver paid Rs 70,000 after much negotiation over five hours.

Last week, Odisha government had given a 3-month breather to motorists following public resentment in some parts of the State, particularly Bhubaneswar, over steep penalty provisions in the new MV Act. Errant drivers, till then, will be fined for drunken driving, wrong-side driving and helmetless riding. The transport department has also kept its offices open to issue learners’ licence on holidays.

A truck owner was fined Rs 2 lakh--the highest penalty levied under the amended Motor Vehicles Act in Delhi so far--for at least nine offences on September 11. Earlier, a truck from Rajasthan had been handed out a fine of Rs 1.41 lakh for overloading and other offences.