Drink and Drive Fine in Bangalore

The population of Bangalore is close to 12.476 million people. It’s a beautiful city with a population comprising of both locals and people coming in from all over India, thanks to it being the country’s very own Silicon Valley. This rapid development has heavily contributed to the increase in the number of vehicles.

Second in the chart after Delhi, Bangalore has a total of 80.45 lakh vehicles. Such a huge number is a cause of concern for both pollution and traffic rules violations. In the year 2019 till May, nearly 20,671 people were registered for drunk driving cases in Bangalore.

To prevent severe damages and to stop the number to rise any further, the government hiked the penalty for drunk and driving. As per the latest Motor Vehicles Act, 2019. The fines and penalties for the violation of traffic rules have been revised further.

What is the fine for drunk driving in Bangalore?

If the traffic policemen establish that you were driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol, they will charge a fine of Rs.10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months will be imposed for your first offence.

The penalties and fine applies to all kinds of two-wheelers, four-wheelers, and also commercial vehicles.

What happens if you violate the rule a second time?

In case, you happen to violate the drunk driving traffic rule a second time, then you will be liable to pay a fine of Rs.15,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 2 years.

How do the traffic police validates that the driver is drunk?

If a cop catches hold of you,  suspecting that you are drunk, she/he will immediately detain your vehicle. Then the officials will ask you to take the BAC test. And if in the result, the value of Blood Alcohol Content exceeds 30 mg per 100 ml, then you will be validated for drunk driving.

Things you learn

Drunk Driving is an offence and a matter of sheer ignorance. It can cost either yours or someone else’s life. To put a check on such ignorance while driving, the government has imposed heavy fines.

However, in the case of Bangalore, the state government declares a reduction in traffic fines mentioned in MVA 2019 for some offences but the fine under drunk driving remains unaltered.