18 January,2021 05:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
Car owners have been raising the issue on social media of fines while inside their cars. File pic
The city's civic chief has instructed officials to stop fining people not wearing masks in private cars. The move comes after the issue was raised on social media and a recent clarification in Delhi High Court from the central government. But those without masks inside public vehicles will not get away lightly.
In its response to the Delhi High Court, the union health ministry had said there is no directive of wearing a mask inside private vehicles. File pic
Cleanup marshals will continue to penalise maskless passengers in public vehicles like rickshaw, bus, trucks, tempos, taxis and Ola, Uber. BMC and police impose a fine of Rs 200 for not wearing masks in public places. An official with the Solid Waste Management department told mid-day,
"We haven't received any written circular but there has been a message from a senior official about the changes. The message says that action cannot be taken against passengers inside private cars." The municipal commissioner's directive applies strictly only to private cars. The message asked all officials to inform marshals of the change on Sunday itself.
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At Delhi High Court, an advocate had filed a petition against a Rs 500 challan issued to him for not wearing a mask when he was alone in his private car. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had informed the court in its reply that it has not issued directives to wear a mask while travelling alone in a vehicle.
Meanwhile, the BMC has collected R22.72 crore in fines from 11.18 lakh people for not wearing masks. Out of this, R16.02 crore was collected in the past two months from November 15, 2020, to January 15, 2021. The BMC fined 3.17 lakh people from April 9, 2020, to November 14, 2020, and collected fine R6.70 crore. The number of people fined also increased from 3.17 lakh to 11.18 lakh in the past two months. Civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal was unavailable for comment.
