Not wearing a mask at railways premises, trains will now attract a fine of Rs 500

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In a bid to curb the resurgence of Covid-19, Indian Railways has announced a fine of ₹500 for anyone found to be violating face mask norms in trains and railway premises. The railways also issued a similar advisory for passengers against spitting and “acts of similar nature”. The measures will be implemented for six months till further notice.

Apropos the standard operation procedure (SOP) for movement of trains, “To control spitting and act of similar nature, the Indian Railways has mandated the wearing of face masks/face cover by all persons at railway premises including trains. Anyone not adhering to norms would be fined up to Rs. 500 under Indian Railways (Penalties for activities affecting cleanliness at Railway Premises) Rules 2012 by railway officials authorized for the purpose.”

Railway may take action with immediate effect for a period of six months till further issued in this regard, the order added.

In line with the preventive measures taken by the Centre against the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country, the state governments have also been issuing orders imposing fines on those violating the face masks norms in public. Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh government had announced a first-time offender fine of Rs 1,000 on a person found not wearing a face mask. And for repeated offenders, a fine of Rs 10,000 will be imposed.

The announcement has come at a time when the country is recording a surge in COVID-19 cases. India reported more than 200,000 cases of infection for the third consecutive day. As of April 17, the tally stands at 14,526,609 after the 234,692 people tested positive for the viral infection.

Meanwhile, 1,23,354 people recovered from the disease taking the tally of the total recovered people to 1,26,71,220 in the past 24 hours.