CM, BJP chief avail 50% traffic fine discount, clear pending violations

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and BJP state president BY Vijayendra are among several political leaders who have made use of the Karnataka government’s 50% traffic fine discount scheme, currently in force across the state.

Between January and August 2024, the Chief Minister’s official Toyota Fortuner was flagged six times for seatbelt violations and once for speeding. All cases were detected through Bengaluru’s Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) surveillance cameras. Reports suggest that Siddaramaiah himself was seated in the passenger seat during one of the seatbelt violations.

The Chief Minister’s Office settled the pending dues by paying ₹2,500 under the 50% waiver scheme, officials confirmed, adding that no exemptions have been made for VIPs and that fines are being collected uniformly.

Similarly, BJP state president Vijayendra cleared 10 pending violations linked to his vehicle, including cases of speeding, signal jumping, and seatbelt offences — some dating back to before 2020. His office paid a total of ₹3,250 after availing the waiver.

The discount scheme, operational from August 23 to September 12, was introduced to encourage settlement of long-pending traffic fines across Karnataka.

Since 2019, nearly 3 crore violation cases had accumulated, amounting to over ₹1,000 crore in unpaid fines.

Authorities reported a strong public response to the initiative. By Saturday, more than 16.2 lakh cases had been resolved, resulting in the collection of ₹45.5 crore in fines.