Bhubaneswar, Nov 14 (IANS): The Odisha government has collected penalties worth Rs 1.05 crore from traffic violators between September 1 and November 1 this year, a satte minister said on Thursday.

The fine was collected after the implementation of the amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, which came into effect on September 1.

Replying to a question raised by BJP MLA Mohan Charan Majhi, Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera told the state Assembly that the highest amount of penalty of Rs 46, 00,850 was collected from 5,317 persons for driving without valid licence.

He also informed that Rs 13,79,700 was collected from 2,111 persons for driving without insurance and Rs 38,16,110 from 1,177 persons for not having pollution certificates.

Besides, 490 persons were caught for drunken driving and Rs 7,38,100 penalty was collected from them, the minister said.

Behera also informed that the number of accidents also came down in the month of September as compared to the same period last year.

While as many as 844 accidents took place in September 2018, it decreased to 704 in September this year, he said.