The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways released data in 2018, stating that Indian roads witnessed over 4.67 lakh accidents, which claimed the lives of over 1.5 lakh people. Due to the high population of the country and the density of vehicles in metropolitan cities and large towns, road accidents are a frequent occurrence. In order to combat accidents and violations, the Indian government introduced changes into various sections of the Motor Vehicles Act that came into effect from September 1, 2019.
One of the main sections of the MV Act is Section 177, which has general provisions for punishments for various traffic offences. As per the updated Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, Section 177 states:
“Whoever contravenes any provision of this act or of any rule, regulation or notification made thereunder shall, if no penalty is provided for the offence be punishable for the first offence with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, and for any second or subsequent offence with fine which may extend to one thousand and five hundred rupees”.
As mentioned above, Section 177 lists out penalties for various traffic offences as well as their fines. Here is a look at the list of punishments and fines that fall under Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019:
Traffic Offence |
Punishments |
Holder of a driving licence permitting it to be used by someone else |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
Operating a driving school without a licence |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
Driver failing to obey mandatory traffic signs |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
Driver failing to obey prescribed signals on prescribed occasions |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
Driver allowing someone to obstruct control of their vehicle |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
Any individual in-charge of a vehicle carrying or allowing to carry another person on the running board, etc. |
₹500 for 1st offence ₹1,500 for subsequent offence |
It should also be noted that there is also a subsection of Section 177, called Section 177(A), which states:
“Penalty for contravention of regulations under Section 118-- Whoever contravenes the regulations made under Section 118 shall be punishable with a fine which shall not be less than five hundred rupees, but may extend to one thousand rupees”.
Section 177 does not cover any specific traffic violation. Instead, the section lists out punishments for traffic offences where no specific penalty has been established. The monetary fines under Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 range from ₹500 for first-time offences to ₹1,500 for repeating the same offences.
As mentioned earlier, the traffic violations under Section 177 include offences like not following mandatory traffic signs or particular prescribed signals, allowing someone to obstruct your control of the vehicle, operating a driving school without a licence, etc. At the time of amendments made in the Motor Vehicles Act, the fines under Section 177 were increased from ₹100 and ₹300 to ₹500 and ₹1,500 respectively.
If you were skipping on motor insurance to save some money, you should know that it can be very expensive to drive an uninsured vehicle, and land you in jail now. According to the new Motor Vehicles Act, you can be penalised an amount of ₹2,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 3 months for the first time you are caught driving an uninsured vehicle. For the second offence, you would have to face a fine of ₹4,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 3 months. Why not escape this trouble, get a motor insurance policy available on Finserv MARKETS and avail coverage against accident, theft, natural calamities, and also enjoy cashless claim servicing.
The Section 177 MV Act fines range from ₹500 for first offences to ₹1,500 for subsequent offences.
MV Act 177 has general provisions for punishments for various traffic offences like not following mandatory traffic signals, running a driving school without licence, etc.
No, if you fail to pay your traffic fines on time, you may be summoned to court for legal proceedings.
Yes, you may have to pay a fine of ₹2,000 or ₹4,000 for a repeat offence if you are caught driving without a valid third party insurance plan.
Yes, you can buy motor insurance on Finserv MARKETS and other such online platforms.
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