Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill. The bill aims to address crucial issues such as road safety, with stiff penalties for violation of rules, strengthening the public transportation system and curbing corruption.

Features of the Bill

• The amendment bill seeks to increase the penalty in case of violations such as driving without a licence, speeding, dangerous driving, drunk driving, juvenile driving, overloading, and vehicles that don t have a permit.
• The penalty for drunk driving has been increased by five times to Rs 10,000 and for speeding or racing, violators may have to pay fine of Rs 5,000 which is a tenfold jump from current provisions.
• The proposed bill incorporates provisions to ensure that Good Samaritans who come forward to help out road accident victims are not harassed.
• The bill caps the maximum liability for third party insurance in case of an accident at Rs 10 lakh if there is a death and Rs 5 lakh in case of a serious injury.
• The bill aims to make the registration process for new vehicles simpler and makes Aadhaar mandatory for obtaining a driving licence and vehicle registration.
• The validity of a driving licence is also proposed to be increased under the bill. The validity of the driving licence will be 10 years if the licence holder is between 30-50 years, compared with 20 years currently.
• The bill empowers the central government to order the recalling vehicles, in case a defect in the vehicle is causing harm to the environment or the people.

The bill is based on the recommendations on the recommendations of Transport Ministers from 18 States. The bill was approved by the Lok Sabha in 2017, but could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha. Now the bill has to be passed by both the houses to be enacted into law.