Maha govt plans amnesty scheme to recover pending transport fines

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) The Maharashtra government is set to roll out an Amnesty Scheme for one-time settlement of long-pending dues towards fines imposed for violation of transport rules. The outstanding arrears are estimated at around Rs 2,500 crore -- of which Rs 1,000 crore are from Mumbai alone, and Rs 1,500 crore from the rest of the state.

Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik confirmed the government’s move. He said, “The department is not planning a complete waiver of fines. Instead, the department plans to recover a part of the pending dues and write off the rest. A final call will be taken after consultation with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.”

The department sources said that the owners of the two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and heavy vehicles are expected to get the relief through the government’s move. This initiative is also expected to help the cash-strapped state government to mobilise additional revenue to fund populist schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana.

According to department sources, pending dues towards fines in Mumbai from 2020 were Rs 1,817 crore, of which the department has recovered Rs 817 crore, but still there are pending arrears worth Rs 1,000 crore. In the rest of Maharashtra, the dues are worth Rs 1,500 crore.

The Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar has forwarded the Amnesty Scheme proposal of one-time settlement to the Transport Secretary. It has been proposed to waive 75 per cent of the dues towards fine if the two and three-wheeler pay 25 per cent arrears at one go. If the vehicle owners pay the pending dues in 15 days, then 50 per cent dues may be written off. The government hopes to recover 50 per cent to 75 per cent dues by offering this one-time settlement.

Further, the transport department is drafting a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the recovery of fines from the vehicle owners. This was needed as even though the transport department fixes the fine amount, it is implemented by the police personnel deployed on traffic management duty.

The department noticed that the friction was due to the arbitrary manner in which fines were imposed. Therefore, the transport department sources said that the SOP is being prepared to define the powers of the police personnel in the recovery of fines.

The transport department’s move comes when the state government has introduced a slew of initiatives to promote environmentally friendly transportation. The government aims to increase the adoption of electric vehicles in the state with a target of having 10 per cent of electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2025.

The government has already announced waiver of toll taxes for electric vehicle owners with a view to promoting the use of KD Eco-friendly transportation.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

--IANS

sj/skp