Telangana says no to Centre's Motor vehicle Act

Hyderabad: Giving respite to motorists in the state, the Telangana government has decided not to implement the new Motor Vehicle Act of the Centre, which proposed heavy penalties for traffic violations. The state government would come up with a new Act.

This was announced by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, while replying to a debate on the state Budget in the Assembly on Sunday. The Chief Minister said the Telangana government has no intentions to implement the new MV Act brought by the Centre and will not harass people with the penalties.

The new Motor Vehicle Act by the Government of India has proposed for the imposition of abnormally huge penalties for various types of traffic violations starting from September 1.

The city traffic police had planned to implement the new Act and printed posters regarding this. However, the state government finally decided not to implement it giving the citizens a respite.

The challans issued by the traffic police had become a talking point across the country and the people were much agitated over it. Some State governments, including that of the BJP-ruled have reduced the penalties.

Faced with criticism, several states, including those ruled by BJP like Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and others such as West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, denied imposing stricter fines to boost road discipline. States like Odisha, Karnataka have decreased the quantum of penalty.