₹50 fine in Bihar for not wearing mask at offices, public places

The Bihar government has decided to impose a fine of ₹50 on people found not wearing face masks at offices and public places.

A notification issued by the state health department to this effect on July 3, under the Bihar Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulation 2020, also said that people flouting the norm would be given two masks free of cost to motivate them to wear face covers.

“Wearing a face mask or face cover has been made compulsory (for people at public places or in offices) and ₹50 will be imposed as fine for violating the regulation,” Anupam Kumar, the secretary of the Information and Public Relations Department, said.

The penalty will be imposed under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), the notification said, adding that respective
district magistrates have been entrusted with the job of ensuring proper implementation of the order.

Earlier, the state home department in view of Union home ministry’s guidelines issued on June 29 had also released a statement making masks mandatory for people at
public places till July 31.

Compared to Bihar, Uttarakhand government has undertaken stricter punishments for those flouting the norms with an imposition of fine of ₹5,000 and six months imprisonment if seen in public places without masks. The strict rule came into effect since June 13.

Earlier, Delhi too ruled that not wearing a mask will incur a fine of up to ₹1,000 while in Uttar Pradesh the fine is up to ₹500. Chhattisgarh too imposed a fine of ₹100 for not wearing a mask.