The Environment Protection (Control of Noise) Regulations 2022 and the Environment Protection (Environmental Standards for Noise) Regulations 2022 will be promulgated shortly. The Environment Protection (Control of Noise) Regulations 2022 would, inter alia, provide for the following:
- additional powers to an authorised officer or the enforcing agency to serve a Fixed Penalty Notice of Rs10,000 on any person for making or causing noise to be made, emanating from a building or premises, including noise nuisances from a vehicle such as playing of loud music or noise caused by exhaust pipe or modified motor engines;
- where the person making or causing the noise to be made in a building or premises cannot be ascertained at the material time, an authorised officer or the enforcing agency agency
- building or premises who shall be presumed to have made or caused to be made the noise; and
- any person who fails to pay the fixed penalty of Rs10,000 within the prescribed delay, would, upon conviction, be liable to pay a fine not less than thrice the fixed penalty amount.
In the Environment Protection (Environmental Standards for Noise) Regulations 2022, the meaning of “neighbourhood noise” would be reviewed to also include noise emitted from domestic premises as well as from halls, multipurpose halls and wedding halls, used to accommodate various types of events, places of entertainment, mechanical devices or equipment.
