The Delhi government on Thursday announced a steep fine of Rs 2,000 for not wearing a face mask from the earlier Rs 500 fine.
Announcing the development, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the move is to create effective deterrent so that people do not omit wearing masks.
"Met Hon’ble LG. Briefed him about the corona situation in Delhi. We agreed that to create effective deterrent so that people don’t omit wearing masks, we need to increase fine from the present Rs 500 to Rs 2000," Kejriwal tweeted.
Kejriwal's announcement came amid the coronavirus surge in Delhi. The national capital has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past week.
On Wednesday, Delhi recorded 7,486 new COVID-19 cases and 131 deaths, pushing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the national capital to 5,03,084 and the death toll to 7,943. The death rate in Delhi now stands at 1.58 per cent while the recovery rate is at 89.9 per cent.
While 4,52,683 people have recovered from the infection, 42,458 cases are active in Delhi, as per the Union Health Ministry's latest data.