Motorists using Lahore Ring Road will now pay far heavier fines for breaking traffic rules, after the Punjab Ring Road Authority sharply raised penalties across a long list of offences. Driving without a valid licence, which used to draw a fine of just Rs500, will now cost Rs5,000, while underage driving carries the steepest penalty of all at Rs10,000.
Speeding has also become much more expensive. Drivers of vehicles with engines of up to 2,000cc caught overspeeding will be fined Rs5,000, while those in larger vehicles above 2,000cc face Rs10,000. Wrong overtaking follows the same pattern, with Rs5,000 for smaller vehicles and Rs10,000 for bigger ones. Improper use of lanes will cost Rs2,000, and driving the wrong way or against one-way restrictions will bring a Rs5,000 fine.
Several other everyday violations have seen their penalties climb several times over. Overloading, previously fined at Rs2,000, will now cost Rs7,000, and wrong parking rises from Rs1,000 to Rs2,000. Motorists using a mobile phone while driving or travelling without wearing a seat belt will now be fined Rs3,000, up from Rs500. The fine for pedestrian crossing violations has gone up from Rs200 to Rs1,000, while black or tinted windows, missing or non-standard number plates and motorcycles entering stretches where they are restricted each attract a Rs5,000 penalty. Bringing animals onto the Ring Road will also cost Rs5,000, and smoke-emitting vehicles will be fined Rs4,000 for cars and Rs5,000 for commercial vehicles.
The tougher schedule applies to one of the busiest roads in Punjab’s capital. Lahore Ring Road is an 85-kilometre controlled-access orbital highway that circles the city and links the M-2 and M-11 motorways with the N-5 National Highway. Access is restricted to fast-moving traffic, which is why pedestrians, bicycles, slow motorcycles and animal-drawn carts are kept off it. The authority says the revised fines are part of a wider push to improve road discipline, cut down on dangerous driving and strengthen enforcement on the route.
The size of the increases leaves little doubt about the intent. In several cases penalties have risen tenfold, turning what many drivers may once have treated as a minor cost into a serious hit to the pocket. Whether the new fines change behaviour on the road will depend on how consistently they are enforced in the weeks ahead, but for anyone driving the Ring Road the message is now plain: carry a licence, stay in lane, keep to the speed limit and leave the phone alone, because breaking the rules has suddenly become a great deal more expensive.
