The Union Cabinet has recently given its nod for a Bill to amend the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 with the aim to address the issue of road safety and improve its scenario in the country. Subsequently, the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
It is said that every year 5 lakhs road accidents are reported in the country, in which, 1.5 lakh people lose their lives. The Government aims to reduce the accidents and fatalities by 50 percent in 5 years.
The Bill seeks to amend 68 sections out of a total of 223 sections in the present Motor Vehicles Act, insertion of 28 new sections, and proposes hefty penalties against violations of road safety rules.
Some of the key features of the Bill are, the enhancement of compensation for Hit & Run cases from Rs.25,000 to Rs.2 lakhs and the provision for payment of compensation upto Rs.10 lakh in road accident fatalities. It also proposes that in the case of offences committed by juveniles, the guardian/owner shall be deemed guilty and the juvenile is to be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act while the registration of the vehicle will be cancelled. In the area of road safety, the Bill proposes stricter provisions, increasing penalties as deterrents against traffic violations some of which are: disobedience of orders of authorities (from Rs.500 to Rs.2000), unauthorized use of vehicles without licence (Rs.1000 to Rs.5000), driving without licence (Rs.500 to Rs.5000), driving despite disqualification (Rs.500 to Rs.10,000), over speeding (Rs.400 to Rs.1000 for LMV and Rs.2000 for medium passenger vehicles), dangerous driving (Rs.1000 to Rs.5000), drunken driving (Rs.2000 to Rs.10,000), speeding/racing (Rs.500 to Rs.5000), vehicle without permit (up to Rs.10,000), overloading (Rs.2000 and 1000 per extra tonne to Rs.20,000 and 2000 per extra tonne), seatbelt (Rs.100 to Rs.1000), overloading of two-wheelers (Rs.100 to Rs.2000 and disqualification for 3 months for licence), driving without insurance (Rs.1000 to Rs.2000). The new proposed penalties include aggregators -violations of licensing conditions (Rs.25,000 to Rs.1 lakh), overloading of passengers (Rs.1000 per extra passenger), and not providing way for emergency vehicles (Rs.10,000). The Bill also gives power of officers to impound documents by suspension of driving licences under section 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 194 (c) (d) (e), while offences committed by enforcing authorities are liable to be dealt twice the penalty under the relevant section.
For a state like Nagaland which sees numerous road safety rules violations on a daily basis right from underage driving to speeding to driving without licence to almost all the offences cited above, our otherwise potholed roads would become safer for the general public should the Bill be passed and the new/rules are enforced strictly.
The Bill permits state governments to specify a multiplier not less than one and greater than ten to be applied to each fine under this Act and such modified fine.
Another feature is the creation of National Register for Driving licence and National Register for Vehicle through ‘Vahan’ and ‘Sarathi’ platforms so as to facilitate uniformity of the process across the country. Towards this end, registration at the end of the dealer is being proposed to improve registration process for new vehicles while restrictions will be imposed on temporary registrations.
All in all, the proposed amendments focus mainly on issues relating to improving road safety, citizens’ facilitation while dealing with the transport department, strengthening of rural and public transport, providing passenger convenience, and e-governance by enabling online services.
