Motor Vehicle Act
Amendment: Change in penalties for violators.
Introduction
On
31st July 2019, i.e. on last Wednesday, the upper house of the
Parliament passed a bill for the Amendment in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The
Amendment Bill is an important legislation and step for the changing the 30
year old law to make it more effective and vibrant as per the changing societal
needs. As per the new Amendments the penalties and fines for violation of the
code or safety rules will be more than 5 to 10 times of the earlier amounts.
The
aim and objectives of the amendments is not restricted to promote road safety
only, but also to strengthen rural transport, last mile connectivity to
automation, and online services. The main cause for the introduction of the
Amendment Bill was explained by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Mr.
Nitin Gadkari, that more than 1.5 Lakh people die and 5 Lakhs are injured every
year due to road accidents and majority are the cases of rash driving, and thus
this can be clearly derived that current piece of legislation was unable to
provide road safety and protect citizens.
Important Amendments in
the Act:-
(1) The
amendment makes Aadhaar compulsory for getting a driving licence and vehicle
registration.
(2) The
amendment imposes three year imprisonment to the owner or parent of the
juvenile found driving rashly and causing fatal accidents.
(3) The
fine of rash driving is Rs. 5,000 which used to be Rs. 1,000 earlier.
(4) The
minimum penalty for drunk driving is increased to Rs. 10,000 from Rs. 2,000
which is 5 times as compared to previous rules.
(5) The
amendment imposes fine of Rs. 5,000 for driving without licence which used to
be Rs. 500 as per present legislation.
(6) The
fine for seatbelt has been increased to Rs. 1,000 from Rs. 100.
(7) Fine
for talking on mobile phone while driving has been increased to Rs. 5,000 from
Rs.1,000.
(8) Fine
for driving without qualification is Rs. 10,000 which is used to Rs. 500 with
present legislation.
(9) Fine
for speeding and racing is increased to 10 times i.e. from Rs. 500 to Rs.
5,000.
(10)
The Amendment has
introduced a new penalty of Rs.10,000 on the drivers for not providing way to
Emergency Vehicles.
(11)
For Aggregators violating
licensing conditions fine will be imposed from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.1,00,000.
(12)
The Amendment has
introduced various new important provisions and revised almost all the previous
fines and penalties for violating the rules and regulations.
Implications
The
Motor Vehicle Act, (Amendment) 2019, will firstly make the drivers and owners
of the vehicle vigilant enough and that will help in reducing much required
mortality rate because of road accidents. Secondly, the amendment not only
covers the drivers of vehicle and violators of the code, but also the enforcing
authorities and if the concerned authorities are found indulging in any of the
offence they will be fined twice the amount of fine as per the relevant
section.
This
provision under the current amendments will help in better implementation of
this legislation and which is equally important as compared to framing of
legislation, because without effective application of its provisions the
legislation will not be able to solve its real purpose.
Conclusion
It
can be concluded that Motor Vehicle Act, (Amendment) 2019, is a much required
reform in the present set of codes as the previous legislations were unable to prove
their effectiveness and bring down the rate of violators which is basically the
main objective behind every piece of legislation. The Amendment includes
various new provisions like compensation for road accident victims, taxi
aggregators, and a new board known as Road Safety Board for giving advice to
the Central and State Government on various related important issues.
So,
the amendment would most probably bring the desired results as it covers the
provisions related to effective implementation of the rules and harsh penalties
for its violators.
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Drafter by - Ashutosh Vasistha
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Plagiarism Status – 0%
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Approved by Adv. Jyotishwar Bhosale, for
EXPERT JURIST LLP
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