Motor Vehicles Act: Auto-driver fined for not wearing “seat-belt” in Bihar

In Muzaffarpur, on Saturday an auto-rickshaw driver from Saraiya was fined for not wearing a seat belt reported NDTV.

It is strange because the vehicle does not come with a seatbelt. Driving an auto-rickshaw without a seat-belt ended up costing the driver a 1,000 bucks, so auto rikshaw drivers are cautioned to get seat belts installed!

Under the new rules, as per the Motor Vehicles Act, the fine for driving without a seat-belt has been increased 10 times from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000. This was very recently changed by the Centre earlier this year and large sums of fines are being imposed on non-abiders of the new act’s rules.

"The auto driver was asked to pay a minimum challan, which was, for not wearing a seat belt as he was an extremely poor man. So, he was asked to pay Rs. 1,000 only. In order to impose the minimum penalty amount, he was imposed with the lowest challan amount. This was a mistake but it was done just to impose a minimum penalty on the driver," said Ajay Kumar Station House Officer of Saraiya, reported NDTV.