Slap fine of ₹50 per hour for vehicles abandoned on roadside, Bombay high court tells police

Get ready to pay a fine if you have abandoned your broken-down vehicle on the roadside, resulting in traffic congestion. The Bombay high court last week directed the government to issue instructions to police stations across the state to impose a penalty of ₹50 an hour, as stated under Section 201 of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, 1988, on owners if their disabled (broken-down) vehicles impede traffic in public places.

The section also empowers government authorities to levy and recover towing charges if such vehicles are removed by any governmental agency, such as the traffic police.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and AS Gadkari was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Tekchand Khanchandani, complaining of traffic snarls and encroachment of footpaths in Goregaon and Jogeshwari.

As an example, he pointed out how on both sides of Link Road — starting at Hypercity Mall in Goregaon (West) and ending at Oshiwara Bridge, there were violations of a February 2009 traffic police notification, which imposed restrictions such as no parking, no halting, no U-turns and no right turns.

The bench issued the directive after Khanchandani pointed out that although Mumbai traffic police are removing abandoned vehicles from roads, a penalty, as stated under Section 201 of the MV Act, is not imposed on the owners of such vehicles.

Taking note of another complaint raised by Khanchandani, the court also directed the state government to issue instructions to police officers and authorities concerned to take preventive measures against illegal parking on roads where Metro work is going on, as the work has already shrunk road width, causing traffic congestion in many parts of the city. The bench said police officers should be instructed to initiate strict and prompt action against illegally parked vehicles.