Car owners, think again before driving errantly. In the past you – or your chauffeur – might have been able to get away with a simple on-the-spot fine for breaking a rule of the road; but if a proposed bill is passed into law, any traffic law violation will land you straight in jail.
Be it speeding or driving on the wrong side, jail would be the only destination for traffic rule violators as the draft of the proposed Bangladesh Road Transport Act 2016 has no provision for spot fining.
Currently, if anyone violates any traffic rules or any provision of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, there are provisions of spot fining for some offences and even arresting for some offences.
According to Article 159 of the ordinance, no police official below the rank of sub-inspector or sergeant can fine an offender, while a uniformed police officer may arrest one without a warrant for committing a punishable offence.
Article 170 of the same ordinance reads that any first- or second-class magistrate or any especially authorised police officer of or above the rank of deputy superintendent of police, may dispose the matter through negotiation in case of some punishable offences.
However, if the proposed road transport act prepared by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is passed, no arrest warrant would be needed for a police official to arrest anyone violating the new law.
The proposed act reads: “All the offences under the act are eligible for arrest without warrant.” At the same time, the act also dictates that all offences under this act would be bailable and negotiable.
Police officials and transport workers-owners said exclusion of the provision of spot fining will add to the number of pending cases with the court and will be time consuming, expensive, and create public sufferings.
As of April 9, around 122,746 cases were pending with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Traffic police officials said nearly 70,000 cases are lodged on various grounds of traffic rules violation every month, meaning that 2,233 cases are filed on an average every day.
“If we do not have the spot fining authority, then every year around one million people will be sent to jail. Is it realistic?” Imtiaz Ahmed, DC traffic (west), told the Dhaka Tribune.
He also said formulating a new act was not an easy task; that is why their suggestion was to keep the existing act and upgrade the punishments provisions.
“For example, in the existing system, we can fine Tk100 or Tk200 for various offences. The act was formulated in 1983, but time has changed. The amount of fine should be increased. The existing act would be better if punishments were upgraded and some new provisions were included,” Imtiaz said.Reactions“Suppose you are driving your bike on the wrong side of the road, what would a traffic official do? As the traffic police official does not have any spot fining authority [if the law is passed], the official will send you to the police station. It will not be a pro-people move,” the DC traffic said.
Road safety campaigner Ilias Kanchan said developed countries have a common practice of sending a fine slip to offenders whenever they violate any rule on the street. “We are talking about digitisation of Bangladesh, so why should we not we go for such a system?”
Kanchan, the chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai, said: “I think arrest for every single violation of the act is not a good move; rather it should be elaborated and defined well. This provision could be misused. For what reason the offender will be arrested and for what reason the offender will be fined … these things should be made clear.”
He also pointed out that the proposed law also defines all such cases as negotiable and bailable.
“That is not acceptable. If anyone kills any people, should it be negotiable or should the case be bailable? So, there are many ambiguities in the proposed act; those should be made clear. Punishment and negotiation should be determined considering the level of offence,” the actor-turned-activist said.
Osman Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, said the entire transport sector would be closed if the provision of arresting without warrant remains in the new act.
Terming arrest without any warrant “barbaric,” Osman said: “We have given our opinions saying that the provision should be scrapped as it is discriminatory and unrealistic, but spot fining system could be strengthened.”
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority drafted the Road Transport Act 2016 and has sought recommendations from various stakeholders.
On April 10, the BRTA and World Health Organisation jointly organised a multi-stakeholder workshop on the draft of the act. Police submitted a written observation and recommendation to the authority concerned.
The police, in its written recommendation, said currently they prosecute around one million road rule offenders every year. In such a context, if around one million case reports – charge sheets or non-FIR reports – are submitted to the court, then the judiciary system would be severely hampered and at the same time it would require extra manpower and working hours, the law enforcers observed.
The spot fining system by traffic police is available in many countries in the world, the recommendation reads.
Bijoy Bhushan Paul, director (enforcement) of the BRTA, said: “We are collecting recommendations from various stakeholders. Police have given their recommendations already. We will hold an inter-ministerial meeting and then the draft will be finalised.”
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
