More Than Afghan Aid: Rs 369 Cr Collected as Mask Fines in Just 3 Cities & 4 States | Covid Report Card

The spread of Covid-19 in India has a lot to with non-compliance of appropriate behavior. In the last one year, merely across three cities and two states, authorities, including police, have collected fines northwards of Rs 368 crore. That is more than what India annually pays to Afghanistan as development assistance.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation collected Rs40 crore in fines for violation of the mandatory face mask rule from April 2020 to March 21, 2021, as per reports. The civic body fined 20 lakh offenders during that period for violating the mandatory face mask rule to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Data provided by Bengaluru’s Municipal Corporation shows that over 3.70 lakh cases have been filed against citizens for not wearing masks and Rs 8.76 crore was collected by way of fines between May 2020 and February 7, 2021. In the same period, 25,525 cases were filed against citizens for not maintaining social distancing. The fine amount collected during the period was Rs 57.06 lakh.

In total, 3.96 lakh violations have been registered with Rs 9.33 crore collected as fine.

In Uttar Pradesh, only on April 19, during the 35-hour curfew that in the wake of the rising Covid cases, police fined 31,325 people and collected fine of Rs 64.16 lakh for not wearing a mask in public places.

In March 22, a total 1,260 people were fined in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal for not wearing masks and around Rs 1.32 lakh was collected as spot fine.

Odisha Police have collected Rs 67 crore in fines for violations of Covid-19 regulations across the state in the past one year. According to the data shared by the state police headquarters, altogether 7,979 cases were registered for rule violations in the last one year.

Till May 11, Jharkhand Police has collected over Rs 35 lakh as fine from people for not wearing masks in public places.

In an affidavit submitted before the Gujarat high court in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL), the state government stated that 37.42 lakh Gujaratis paid Rs 252 crore between June 24, 2020 and June 28, 2021 for violation of mask rule.

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