Gurugram: Scooter impounded with fines 2x its value

Officials said six fines were issued in January alone, with more piling up in February and March, leading up to a total of 27 pending fines

A scooter with pending challans worth ₹2.06 lakh — more than double its purchase price — was impounded by Gurugram traffic police on Monday during a wrong-side driving check near the police commissioner’s office on Old Gurugram Road, officials said.

The impounded scooter that had pending challans worth ₹2.06 lakh in Gurugram. (HT Photo)

Inspector Mahavir Singh’s team stopped the rider of a Honda Activa who was driving in the wrong direction. When officials entered the registration number into the database, they found 27 pending fines amounting to ₹1.89 lakh, issued for multiple traffic violations.

DCP (traffic) Rajesh Kumar Mohan said the scooter was immediately impounded under Section 167(8) of the Motor Vehicles Act, and another challan of ₹16,500 was imposed for wrong-side driving and not having a pollution under control (PUC) certificate. “It took the total challan amount to ₹2.06 lakh. The rider was identified as Kapil Kumar while the scooter was registered in the name of Muneshwar Dube. It is yet not clear if the repeated violations were committed by the owner or the rider,” he said.

To be sure, the latest Honda Activa model carries an on-road price of about ₹1 lakh. The scooter, bought in 2022, has accrued fines exceeding its cost.

Mohan stressed that such blatant violation of rules would not be tolerated. “We are running several commuter-friendly awareness campaigns, but high-handed acts are unacceptable,” he added.

Traffic officials said most violations were for riding without helmets and failed PUC. Six fines were issued between January 6 and January 18, seven more between February 4 and February 28, and four between March 12 and March 28. “Each of these challans were of ₹11,000 each for continuously riding without helmet and a valid pollution certificate. The first challan was issued on November 17, 2024, which was of ₹1,000 for riding without helmet,” an officer said.

Police said the violator will either have to pay the entire fine after submitting a representation before traffic police or the case will be forwarded to court.