The Uttarkhand cabinet has cleared a proposal to reduce some of the penalties revised by the Centre for traffic rule violations under the amended Motor Vehicle Act.

Gujarat and Karnataka have already decided to reduce penalties for traffic violations under the act.

Though the penalties for several offences under the revised act are being reduced by half, it has been decided not to relax fines for driving without wearing helmets, speeding and tripling on two wheelers, state government spokesman Madan Kaushik told reporters after the cabinet meeting late on Wednesday evening.

The reduced penalties will come into effect after the state government issues a notification in this regard, said Kaushik, who is also the state's urban development minister.

Citing instances of the reduced penalties, Kaushik said the fine for driving by an unauthorised person or a minor earlier was Rs 1,000 which was recently revised to Rs 5,000 by the Centre. The amount is being reduced to Rs 2,500, the urban development minister added.

The fine for driving while talking on a mobile handset is also being halved from Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,500 in the state, he said.

The penalty for using a wrong number plate in Uttarakhand will also be Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 10,000 as revised by the Centre.

Those driving without a licence in Uttarakhand will have to shell out Rs 2,500 as fine in place of Rs 5,000.

The fine for not giving pass to an ambulance or fire brigade has also been amended from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5,000, Kaushik said.