Knowledge base · Traffic rules and penalties
हिन्दी में पढ़ेंThe Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 raised most penalties sharply. States notify their own compounding amounts, so the figure collected locally may differ from the one prescribed — but the requirement itself does not change from State to State.
Taught on: Defensive Driving & Road Safety — 1 dayThe shape of a sign is legible long before the picture on it is. So learn the shape first — a circle commands, a triangle warns, a rectangle informs. On the road surface itself, colour does the same work.
Circular. Disobeying one is a legal offence. STOP and GIVE WAY are the two exceptions to the shape.
Triangular. It tells you what is coming, early enough to react and manoeuvre.
Rectangular. Direction, distance, facility — information, not instruction.
The centre line between two directions: you may not cross into the other side's lane. No-parking and no-stopping areas are yellow too.
The arrows that say which way to drive, and the edge lines you cross only to stop in an emergency. Not as restrictive as yellow.
Sources — Training Manual for Drivers; IRC:67-2012 (road signs) and IRC:35-2015 (road markings); section 116 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Driving licence, registration certificate, insurance, the pollution certificate, and for a transport vehicle the fitness certificate and permit. Digital copies in DigiLocker or mParivahan are accepted.
Three, by shape. Mandatory or regulatory signs are circular — the two exceptions are STOP and GIVE WAY — and disobeying one is a legal offence. Cautionary or warning signs are triangular. Informatory or guide signs are rectangular. Section 116 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for them; the code of practice is IRC:67-2012.
Yellow marks a restriction. The yellow centre line divides the two directions of traffic and says you may not cross into the other side's lane; yellow is also used for no-parking and no-stopping areas. White is instructive rather than restrictive — the arrows that tell you which way to drive, and the edge lines you cross only to stop in an emergency.
Give way to the traffic on your right. Where both roads carry equal priority, that is the rule the manual states, and it is the one to fall back on when there is no sign, no marking and no signal.
Four the manual singles out. That traffic signals need not be obeyed after ten at night — they must be obeyed at any hour. That a right indicator may be used to wave the vehicle behind past you — indicators are for your own turn, right or left, and nothing else. That the seatbelt is for the driver, or only for long trips — it is for every occupant on every journey, because every occupant carries the same risk at the same speed. That a load overhanging the vehicle is normal — nothing wider, longer or higher than the vehicle permits should be on it at all.
₹5,000 for a first offence, and the vehicle may be seized. The owner who let an unlicensed person drive is liable separately.
Up to ₹10,000 and imprisonment of up to six months for a first offence, rising for a repeat. For a commercial driver it usually ends the job as well.
Yes. The requirement applies to all seats, not only the front. In 2024 the non-use of seatbelts was recorded in over fourteen thousand deaths.
₹1,000 to ₹5,000, and the licence can be suspended. It applies at a red light too — the vehicle is still in traffic.
Up to 100 km/h for cars, 80 for two-wheelers and 60 to 80 for heavy vehicles — but the limit that applies is the one on the sign, and a lower posted limit always governs.
Yes, and it must be a standards-marked helmet properly strapped. In 2024 the non-use of helmets was recorded in over fifty-four thousand deaths.
It certifies the vehicle's emissions are within limits. Driving without a valid one attracts ₹10,000, and the vehicle may be taken off the road until it is produced.
Yes, for every vehicle on a public road. Driving without it attracts ₹2,000 for a first offence and the vehicle can be impounded.
The penalty runs to ₹20,000 with an additional amount per extra tonne, and the load must be removed before the vehicle moves on. Overloading also changes the braking distance, which is the part that kills people.
A driver holding a licence endorsed for that class of transport vehicle, at least twenty years old for heavy vehicles, and holding the hazardous goods endorsement if the load requires it.
Yes. Speeding, dangerous driving, phone use and helmet offences can all carry suspension, and repeat offences make it likely rather than possible.
This page is written for guidance. Where money, a licence or somebody's safety turns on it, read the rule itself — every answer says which one. Disclaimer and sources.
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