Decoded: The Proposed Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016

The Lok Sabha passed the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on April 10, 2017. The existing Bill is almost three decades old and, therefore, it needs revisions to meet the modern-day situation. The core of the proposed amendments in the Bill is to make the Indian roads safer and reduce accidents and fatalities by 50% in five years.

The proposed Bill with amendments is now in Rajya Sabha, and once it gets the nod from the upper house, it shall reach the Hon'ble President for approval.

Highlights of the proposed Bill:

• Fine for driving without a valid licence to be increased ten folds; from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000

• Fine for drunken driving to be increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000

• Fine for driving without helmet proposed to increase from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 with the licence being disqualified for three months

• Cab aggregators to come under the scanner with violations of licencing conditions resulting in penalty

• Fine of Rs 10,000 for not providing way to emergency vehicles

• Juvenile offenders to be tried under JJ Act and guardian/owner be deemed guilty of the offence

Here's a low down on the proposed Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016

No more Temporary Registration - Registration at the dealer end is proposed with restrictions on temporary registration which should result in quicker delivery of new vehicles. In case the entire process goes online, the chances are that one may be automatically allocated registration numbers, which will also restrict putting forward choice for having a particular registration number on your car – until you take the official way that is.

Get learner's licence and renew DL validity online – e-Governance is something that the ruling party is pushing on. The Bill proposes online registration for learner's licence and renewal of DL. We expect to hear about more processes going online – fingers crossed!

Uniformity in processes – The Bill proposes to maintain a National Register for Driving Licence and Vehicle Registration so that the process for obtaining these is the same nationwide. “Sarathi” and “Vahan” platforms will ensure uniformity of the process. So, the process of getting a DL from a rural authority will be the same as getting one from any metro city.

Underage driving will be dealt strictly – The proposed Bill will hold the Guardian/vehicle owner guilty in case of juvenile offences and the juvenile will be tried under the JJ Act. The registration of the motor vehicle in question will also be cancelled!

Differently-abled friendly – The proposed Bill aims to eliminate bottlenecks for getting DL and registering vehicles with alterations for Divyang.

Fines – The Bill raises the penalties for various offences and also proposes that the State Government can specify a multiplier, not less than one and not greater than ten, to be applied to each fine. So, the fine amount will vary from state to state. The Bill proposes fine for oversized vehicles, cab aggregators, not providing the way for emergency vehicles and offences for juveniles.

Hit & Run cases – The compensation for victims of Hit & Run cases will increase from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 2 lakh if the Bill is passed. The Bill also has provision for payment of compensation up to Rs 10 lakh in road accident fatalities.

For the helping hands – Good Samaritan guidelines have been incorporated in the Bill so that more help can be extended to road accident victims. Once the Bill is passed, there will be a clearer picture on these guidelines.

Commercial segment – Commercial driver training process would be strengthened, and the process may become smoother and quicker. There will also be automated fitness testing for transport vehicles. Deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations will incur penalties.

Proposed increase in fines

Section		Old Provision / Penalty	New Proposed Provision / Minimum Penalties
177	General	Rs 100	Rs 500
New 177A	Rules of road regulation violation	Rs 100	Rs 500
178	Travel without ticket	RS 200	Rs 500
179	Disobedience of orders of authorities	Rs 500	Rs 2000
180	Unauthorised use of vehicles without licence	Rs 1000	Rs 5000
181	Driving without licence	Rs 500	Rs 5000
182	Driving despite disqualification	Rs 500	Rs 10,000
182 B	Oversize vehicles	New	Rs 5000
183	Overspeeding	Rs 400	Rs 1000 for LMV Rs 2000 for Medium passenger vehicle
184	Dangerous driving penalty	Rs 1000	Upto Rs 5000
185	Drunken driving	Rs 2000	Rs 10,000
189	Speeding / Racing	Rs 500	Rs 5,000
192 A	Vehicle without permit	upto Rs 5000	Upto Rs 10,000
193	Aggregators (violation of licencing conditions)	New	Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,00,000
194	Overloading	Rs 2000 and Rs 1000 per extra tonne	Rs 20,000 and Rs 2000 per extra tonne
194 A	Overloading of passengers		Rs 1000 per extra passenger
194 B	Seat belt	Rs 100	Rs 1000
194 C	Overloading of two wheelers	Rs 100	Rs 2000, Disqualification for 3 months for licence (3 months disqualification for licence)
194 D	Helmets	Rs 100	Rs 1000 Disqualification for 3 months for licence (3 months disqualification for licence)
194 E	Not providing way for emergency vehicles (Not giving way to emergency vehicles)	New	Rs 10,000
196	Driving Without Insurance	RS 1000	Rs 2000
199	Offences by Juveniles	New	Guardian / owner shall be deemed to be guilty. Rs 25,000 with 3 yrs imprisonment. Juvenile to be tried under JJ Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle to be cancelled
206	Power of Officers to impound documents		Suspension of driving licenses u/s 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 194C, 194D, 194E
210 B	Offences committed by enforcing authorities		Twice the penalty under the relevant section

Source: cardekho.com