Bengaluru, Sep 15 (TIWN) Bowing to public pressure and the partys state unit cadres demand, the BJP-ruled Karnataka government looks set to reduce the hefty fines imposed on traffic offenders under the recently-amended Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), 2019.

 "Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has directed Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who holds the transport portfolio, to study the Central government's September 1 notification and reduce the steep fines on traffic offenders on the lines of Gujarat and other BJP-ruled states did or doing," an official told IANS in Bengaluru.  Complying with the amended provisions of the MVA, the state government on September 3 notified the steep fines on the offenders and started penalising them from September 4 across the southern state. 

"As there is a public outcry against the steep hike and demand to reduce the fines, I have told the transport department to reduce them suitably, as the people are feeling the pinch and seeking relief," Yediyurappa told reporters on Tuesday, a day after Gujarat announced slashing them by 50 per cent. 

"No decision has been taken yet to reduce the fines. As it is a policy move with financial implications, the cabinet has to decide the quantum of reduction and from when," state Transport Commissioner K. Shivakumar told IANS.  An official team from the transport department went to Ahmedabad to study the Gujarat government's revised order on September 10 and another team to New Delhi for clarifications on the provisions of the amended MVA from the Union Transport Ministry.  "The revised order will be notified as recommended by the cabinet or the chief minister. Till then, the police will continue to collect the fines as per the September 4 order," asserted Shivakumar.