Centre gears up for tussle with Gujarat over traffic penalties

The Centre is gearing up for a tussle with the Gujarat government over the recently amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Amendment Act, 2019, which imposes steeper penalties for road traffic violations.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has sought the Law Ministry’s opinion on whether State governments can tweak the lower limit for fines prescribed in the law after Gujarat slashed some of the fines.
In its notification, Gujarat has imposed fines below the lower limit prescribed in the MV Act and has also altered those fines it is not permitted to change under the Act.
Road transport falls in the Concurrent List and, therefore, both Centre and States are allowed to legislate on the subject.
The Gujarat government has imposed a fine of ₹500 for not wearing a seatbelt but the Centre has laid down ₹1,000 as the penalty, without providing a minimum or maximum limit.

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