With the increasing motor vehicles and violations, the traffic rules also get revised to decrease road accidents and other roadside causalities. Keeping that in mind, the Indian Government has revised the traffic rules and increased the fines to aware of the citizens while driving on the roads. Therefore, the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 got revised, and the new rules were in effect in the country from 1st September 2019.
But the new traffic fines were very high compared to the previous fines. So the riders were not happy, and there were public protests in some places of the country, including Kerala. Also, the traffic rules were very strict so that people got feared and disturbed while driving on roads. So, there was a huge demand from the public to decrease traffic fines in Kerala. Considering the public demand and their safety, the Kerala Government has revised the traffic fines. The new fines are affordable and help people to stay conscious while driving on the roads. Also, there are some unchanged traffic fines to avoid some violations permanently.
Since the changes have been made recently, many people may not know the revised traffic fines in Kerala. However, you must know the revised traffic rules and fines in Kerala in order to drive on the roads of Kerala. The following are the new traffic fines revised by the Kerala Government that you should know.
| Violations | Revised fines by the Kerala Government |
| Driving a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet. Also, it is mandatory to wear a helmet for both riders and pillion riders while riding a two-wheeler. | INR 500 is the revised fine by the Kerala Government. The previous fine for this violation was INR 1000. |
| Not wearing the seat-belt while driving/riding a four-wheeler. | The existing fine was INR 100, and the revised fine is INR 500. |
| Driving a light motor vehicle by exceeding the maximum speed limit. | INR 1500 for the first time. If the rider repeats the violation, the fine will be INR 3000. The previous fine for this offense was INR 5000. |
| Riding a medium or heavy vehicle by exceeding the speed limit. | The revised fine is INR 3000, whereas the previous fine was INR 5000. |
| Not obeying the orders or spreading false information. | INR 1000, while the previous fine was
INR 2000. |
| Riding an automobile like racing on the road at high speed. | The previous fine was INR 10000, which is revised to INR 5000. |
| Riding an automobile, especially transportation vehicles exceeding the maximum weight limit. | The revised fine is INR 1500 for every extra ton, and the maximum fine is INR 10000. Before, the maximum fine was INR 20000, and fine per ton was INR 2000. |
| Not stopping an overloaded vehicle when ordered. | INR 20000, which was INR 40000 before. |
| Taking more passengers than recommended in a passenger vehicle. | The previous fine was INR 200, which is revised to INR 100. |
| Making sound and air pollution while driving an automobile. | The existing fine was INR 10000, and the revised fine is INR 2000. |
| Driving a motor vehicle without a valid permit. | The revised fine is INR 3000, which was INR 2000 to INR 5000 before. If the rider repeats the offense, then the fine is INR 7500. Before, this fine was INR 5000 to INR 10000. |
| Using mobile phones while driving. | The revised fine for this offense is INR 2000.  If one repeats this violation, then the fine will be INR 5000. Before, this fine was up to 10000. |
| Doing a conductor’s job without a valid license. | The Revised fine is INR 1000. Before, this fine was INR 10000. |
| Not allowing an emergency vehicle to pass while driving. | The fine for this offense has revised to INR 5000, which was INR 10000. |
This way, the Kerala Government has revised the traffic fines to help the citizens. The revised fines are affordable and effective for reducing road accidents. Excluding the above fines, Kerala Government has kept some traffic fines, as usual, considering the types of offenses.
The following are the unchanged traffic fines by the Kerala Government.
| Violations | Traffic fines |
| Driving an automobile after drinking or in the effect of any alcoholic substances. | This fine has remained unchanged as this offense is very serious. INR 10000 is the fine for the first time offense. Also, the rider can be sentenced for up to six months of imprisonment.
For the second time offense. The Fine is INR 15000 and imprisonment for up to 2 years. |
| Breaking or not obeying traffic rules. | The fine is still INR 500 |
| Driving a vehicle without a valid license. | The fine for this offense is INR 5000. |
| Driving an automobile without valid insurance. | INR 2000 for the first time offense, or up to three months of imprisonment.
For the second time offense, the fine is INR 4000 or up to three months of imprisonment. Also, the rider may need to pay the fine as well as imprisoned for three months. |
| Driving a vehicle when one is unhealthy, both physically and mentally. | The fine for the first offense is INR 1000.
If one repeats the offense for the second time, then the fine is INR 2000. |
| Driving a vehicle without qualifying for driving. | The fine for this offense is INR 10000. |
| Driving an automobile without the required ticket. | The fine for this serious offense is INR 500. |
| Riding an unauthorized vehicle. | The fine for this violation is INR 5000. |
The revised Motor Vehicle Act 2019 contains several unexpected fines that affected many people. Many people were fined these amounts in many places in the country and got feared. The main objective of these revised fines was to stop the traffic rule violation and accidents on the road. Also, this Act helped in generating good revenue for the Government.
However, the Kerala Government considered the troubles of citizens and revised the traffic fines. The Government has taken each factor to consider and kept some fines unchanged for the safety of people. You must know these fines before driving on the roads of Kerala.