Kerala government has for the time being refrained from taking an aggressive stance on the new penalties under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. Like Gujarat or West Bengal or Telengana, it will not slash the rates that have been pushed up steeply. Instead, Kerala has decided to put on hold the imposition of the new fines till the Centre offers a clarification.

The state government has, therefore, decided to send a letter to the Centre seeking clarity on the implementation of the amended Motor Vehicles Act. This was decided at the high-level meeting chaired by transport minister A K Saseendran here on Monday.

In effect, this will create a 'lawless window' when no fines will be imposed for traffic violations in the state. “We will also ask the Centre to provide a speedy response,” the transport minister told reporters after the high-level meeting. The minister conceded that this temporary no-fine period could encourage habitual offenders. “Such a phase can goad any one to break the law with impunity. We cannot slap old fines on offenders either. So we hope that the Centre will come up with a solution at the earliest,” Saseendran said. He said the MPs from the state would also be asked to apply pressure on the Centre to give a speedy response. The just concluded Onam season, too, had witnessed a fine-free situation.

Saseendran said the Law Department had advised that the state could reduce the penalty in cases where only a maximum amount has been fixed. “However, the general consensus at the meeting was that it was unnecessary to be selective about the reduction,” the minister said. Gujarat, for instance, had reduced 17 fines by 50-90 per cent using the advantage of the mandated ceiling.

Kerala has decided not to pick and choose because a ceiling has been proposed only for a few offences. For instance, if a vehicle manufacturer fails to comply with motor vehicle standards, the penalty will be a fine of up to Rs 100 crore. Again, if a contractor fails to comply with road design standards, the penalty will be a fine of up to one lakh rupees. For most other violations - from drunken driving and over speeding to driving without insurance and licence - there is a fixed amount.

Saseendran said that a state-level ordinance to circumvent the Centre's law was legally not feasible. The law secretary had made it clear at the meeting that only the Centre could bring down the rates it had jacked up.

Nonetheless, the minister said that the government had still kept its options open. He has asked transport secretary Jyothilal to prepare a report on ways to temper the fines without compromising on road safety after discussing with the transport secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat that had brought down the rates.