Thiruvananthapuram: The Transport Commissioner has directed that fines should be imposed via camera surveillance only for the 12 offences specified under the Central Motor Vehicles Act. The Commissioner's intervention came after officials began imposing fines for other violations as well using photos captured on mobile phones.

The directive states that fines should not be imposed based on photos taken on mobile phones for offences such as lack of vehicle insurance coverage, expired registration/fitness certificates, and failure to undergo pollution checks. Fines for these can be collected by issuing a separate check report during physical vehicle inspections when vehicles are stopped.

Complaints arose because when capturing images of riders without helmets, officials also checked vehicle documents online and imposed fines for other offences found. It has also been directed not to impose fines for luggage carriers mounted on top of tourist vehicles.

However, officials state that they had to impose fines for multiple offences following an audit observation. The audit had directed that officials must ensure the vehicle has no other traffic violations when imposing a fine.


Offences for which fines can be imposed based on images:

1. Overspeeding
2. Illegal parking
3. Not wearing a helmet
4. Jumping a red signal
5. Carrying load protruding beyond the vehicle
6. Not wearing a seat belt
7. Lane traffic violation
8. Carrying passengers in goods vehicles
9. Defective number plate
10. Mobile phone usage (while driving)
11. Violating road markings, including yellow lines
12. Signal violation