Soon, your driving licence may get revoked if you violate bus lane guidelines in Delhi more than three times and the driver will have to complete a one-month refresher course to get the licence reinstated, transport department officials have said.
The Delhi transport department had in April launched a special ‘bus lane discipline’ drive to improve road discipline, lane driving and decongest the roads. Under this, it was made mandatory that all heavy vehicles, including buses, will run on the extreme left side of the road and those who violate the rules will face a challan of Rs 5,000. This was made applicable for medium vehicles like cars, autorickshaws and motorbikes when it came to driving or parking on bus lanes.
To make commuters strictly follow bus lane discipline, the transport department has appointed DTO (headquarters) as the licensing authority to disqualify or revoke the driving licence of individuals flagged by enforcement agencies after three consecutive violations of bus lane discipline under section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, officials said.
“Second provision of sub-section 2 of the 200 provides that compounding of an offense will not discharge the offender from proceedings under the sub section 4 of section 206 or the obligation to complete the driver refresher training course or the obligation to complete community service, if applicable,” said transport commissioner and principal secretary Ashish Kundra in an order.
The department has further directed the designated officer that in case of suspension of driving licence, the licensing authority shall not revoke the suspension until the driver completes the month-long refresher course at DTC training school at Nand Nagri, said the official.
Between April and May, the transport department fined around 44,594 heavy vehicle drivers for violating bus lane discipline in the city. Of the total, 1,591 challans were issued to bus drivers for lane violations, while the remaining 43,003 challans were issued to private vehicle owners for parking in bus lanes. About 526 vehicles were towed away for improper parking.
