To wear or not to? Doubts over face mask leads to fine

Bengaluru: In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the city, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has made it compulsory for people to wear masks from Wednesday, failing which they would be fined Rs 1,000.

The order has been issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly disease, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had stated.

While the BBMP has made its stand clear, reports in a section of media led to confusion over the municipal authority's directive. According to some media reports, the corporation gave some relaxations and revised the norms with regard to wearing face masks. The reports claimed that wearing masks was not mandatory for those who travel alone on bikes and cars. Wearing a face mask is mandatory only if there are pillion riders and more than one passenger in a car. This led to confusion among the commuters.

However, BBMP once again clarified that the reports in a section of media are false and that the corporation has not eased the regulations. "Wearing of face masks is mandatory in public places even while driving a car or riding two-wheeler until further clarification from advisory committee," BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad told mediapersons on Wednesday.

Not wearing facial masks in public places and at workspaces will attract a penalty of Rs 1,000 for the first time. "Even a person driving alone in a car with window glasses closed should also wear a mask. Even two-wheeler riders should wear a mask, including the pillion-riders," the BBMP top official clarified.

With no clarifty on wearing face masks, several people have complained of wrongly being fined for not wearing masks as there were reports that the BBMP had issued a notification saying wearing masks is not necessary for solo travellers.

The BBMP has so far penalized 83,673 people for not wearing masks and collected Rs 1.6 crore in a fine from the offenders. With BBMP marshals conducting rigorous checks on motorists for mask-rule compliance, there have been allegations that action against people is often arbitrary since there is no clarity on the rule.