Drivers and vehicle owners violating the Road Transport Act 2018 for the first time will soon be fined a negligible amount, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam.
When asked the reason for this, Shafiqul stated that people are still unaware of the new rules, so the fine will be like a slap on the wrist for first-time offenders. But he clarified that, from the week after the law are implemented, full penalties will be applied.
He did not, however, confirm any particular start date.
Shafiqul made the statements on Monday at a press conference about the new law implementation, held at the DMP media centre in Dhaka.
During the press conference, he also said: "From now on, cases will be registered on software, though initially cases will be catalogued in an analogue format as the software is not yet fully ready.”
When asked about police, journalists and government officials getting away with breaking traffic rules, the commissioner answered: “Law is the same for all; it does not change with a person’s profession, thus anyone breaking rules will be punished accordingly.”
While talking about police taking unethical advantage in some situations, he said: “If anyone complains about this, we will take action against the offender.”
He added: “We will provide police sergeants with a mounted camera and if the camera is switched off then it will be assumed that the particular sergeant has done it purposefully to do something unethical and the police personnel will be punished accordingly.”
Journalists also raised the questions as to why people face such difficulty while collecting seized driving licences and other documents.
In reply to this question, the DMP commissioner said: “After filing a case, we send the documents straight to the office of the deputy commissioner and nowhere else. Thus, finding credentials should not pose a hassle.”
