The Kerala state government, in a compliance report submitted to the High Court, has detailed strict actions taken against overloading of goods vehicles on national highways. The report revealed that the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) imposed fines amounting to Rs 3.18 crore on overloaded goods vehicles between December 2025 and February 2026.
According to the home secretary's report, a total of 1,165 challans were issued during this period. Out of the total fine amount of Rs 3.18 crore, Rs 1.56 crore has been collected so far. The report also highlighted that the Department of Mining and Geology conducted effective enforcement measures, resulting in the seizure of 55 vehicles during departmental inspections, seven vehicles during combined inspections, and 22 vehicles during further joint inspections across various districts, including Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.
The compliance report was submitted in response to a petition filed by P B Satheesh of Thrissur, who sought stringent action against overloaded trucks on national highways. Previously, a bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar had disposed of the petition, directing the state government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to formulate a detailed and enforceable Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to curb and prevent the recurring problem of truck overloading on national highways and other roads in the state. The High Court had also directed the state government on February 19 to file a compliance report detailing the steps taken towards the finalization, publication, and implementation of the SOP.
The report further stated that the formulated SOP has been circulated to all relevant departments, including police, MVD, forest, mining and geology, as well as other field-level enforcement agencies. Instructions have been issued to ensure strict implementation of the SOP while enforcing statutory provisions relating to the overloading of goods vehicles on national highways.
The High Court expressed satisfaction with the actions taken by the state government authorities and accepted the compliance report.
