COVID-19: Guj govt collected Rs 249 crore from over 36 lakh mask rule violators in two years

Gandhinagar: Gujarat police have collected Rs 249 crore as fine in the last two years from over 36 lakh people, who were found roaming without wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, the state government has informed the legislative assembly.

Responding to a set of questions raised by a Congress MLA during the Question Hour on Thursday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who handles home portfolio, said a fine of Rs 249.90 crore was collected from 36.26 lakh people for violating the mask rule in the last two years.

Besides that, police also lodged FIRs under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Diseases Act against nearly 52,000 persons, who did not pay the fine on the spot, the chief minister said in his reply.

Of the total amount of fine, Rs 59.85 crore were collected from Ahmedabad district alone, followed by Rs 29.47 crore from Surat and Rs 21.01 crore from Vadodara district during this period.

Fine for not wearing a mask in public places and inside vehicles in Gujarat is Rs 1,000 at present. The fine amount was hiked from Rs 200 to Rs 500 in July 2020. Within a month, it was again raised to Rs 1,000 as per the Gujarat High Court’s direction.