No penalty will be levied on people not wearing face masks in the national capital, the Delhi government announced on Thursday. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to withdraw the order that made wearing face masks in public places compulsory and those found violating the mandate were fined ₹500, according to Delhi's health and family welfare department. The government, however, advised the public to continue wearing masks in crowded public places.
“DDMA has decided that compulsory wearing of masks under the Epidemic Act may not be extended beyond 30.09.2022 and hence, a Fine of Rs. 500/- for not wearing of masks in public places would also stand withdrawn after 30.09.2022,” the health and family welfare department of the Delhi government said in its order.“The order…in which there is a provision to impose a penalty of Rs. 500/- on general public for not wearing face mask in public places, stands withdrawn after 30.09.2022. However, in crowded public places, all public are advised to wear mask,” it added.
In a meeting on September 22, the DDMA decided to do away with the ₹500 fine for not wearing masks in the city, noting that the “positivity rate of Covid-19 infection has come down substantially and a majority of the population has been vaccinated.” “It was unanimously agreed that though wearing of masks was useful in maintaining Covid-appropriate behaviour, it was agreed that the order of compulsory wearing of masks under the Epidemic Act may not be extended beyond September 30. Hence, a fine of ₹500 for not wearing masks in public places would also stand withdrawn after September 30, 2022,” the minutes of the DDMA meeting read.
On the other hand, with India reporting a highly infectious new COVID-19 variant, former Director of Delhi AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria urged the common people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour. He said, "I would suggest to everyone that if they are going out and especially in crowded places then they must wear a mask. High-risk groups, elderly people should avoid going out because there are high chances of spreading infection and some can also get a serious infection."
"New variants are expected and this variant has a tendency to mutate that will continue, but now the situation is different, earlier, there was no vaccination, but people are now vaccinated also. But this doesn't mean that people will stop taking precautions, festival season is coming up and cases are also rising," he explained further.