Railways imposes Rs 500 fine for not wearing masks in trains, rail premises

In a bid to curb COVID-19 spread, the Indian Railways on Saturday announced that it will impose a fine of Rs 500 for not wearing face masks at railway premises including trains. It further stated that Railway may take action with immediate effect for a period of six months till further order issued in this regard.

New Delhi:As COVID-19 cases increase day by day, Indian Railways has decided to impose Rs 500 fine on the passengers who won't be wearing masks on the railway premises. It also made it compulsory to wear masks during the train journey.

The order will be in effect for the period of 6 months, till further instructions. The order has been issued to all the General Managers of zonal railways.

Notification issued by the Ministry of Railways

"In view of the COVID-19 situation, controlling spitting and act similar nature due to any person not wearing a mask and entering Railway premises (including trains) is important to avoid the creation of unclean/unhygienic which may cause danger to life/public health," the order stated.

It further added, "Accordingly, to prevent spitting and acts of similar nature and thus to ensure wearing of face masks/ face cover by all persons at railway premises (including trains), fines (up to 500) under Indian Railways (Penalties for activities affecting cleanliness at Railway Premises) Rules, 2012 shall be imposed by railway officials authorized for this purpose, from persons not wearing face mask/cover in Railway premises (including trains)."

Meanwhile, the country reported its highest-ever single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with over 2.34 lakh new cases and more than 1,300 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry today.

In the last 24 hours, 1,341 COVID-related deaths were reported in the country taking the death toll to 1,75,649. As many as 2,34,692 new coronavirus cases have been reported in India in the last 24 hours.

With this, the total number of cases has gone up to 1,45,26,609. The active number of cases stands at 16,79,740. In the last 24 hours, 1,23,354 people recovered from the disease. With this, the total recoveries reached 1,26,71,220.