The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has banned overloaded vehicles on the Pune- Solapur highway. This is in view of the damage to road infrastructure the overloaded trucks are inflicting. This is resulting in heavy maintenance costs, and is claimed to be a major contributor to road accidents and pollution. The ban, claim sources, will be implemented through specially designed equipments like weigh-n-motion systems, weigh bridges and similar such equipment installed close to the toll plazas. As per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, if a truck is found to be overloaded, the excess load has to be offloaded and the driver or owner of the vehicle has to bear the cost. Sources claim that the driver will have to pay 10 times the toll charges and the vehicle will be allowed to pass until the excess load is removed.