Motor Vehicles Act Amendment approved by Cabinet, penalties hiked 10 times!
Riding and driving on India roads is a major pain especially with the high density of traffic in major cities. One major factor which leads to this chaos on the roads is the negligence of rules, which in turn can be attributed to the low fines for traffic violations. A driver would rather pay a 100 rupee fine, than wear his seatbelt. Similarly, a bike rider would prefer maintaining his hairstyle than wear a helmet, since the fine costs less than the money he spent at the saloon anyway.
All that is about to change with the recent amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act, which have been approved by the Government of India. The Government is working towards making Indian roads safer for everyone and is aiming to reduce the accidents and fatalities by 50% in five years.
There have been a slew of amendments across sections but some of the most important ones are listed below.
1) Increase in compensation for Hit & Run cases from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 2 lakhs. It also has provision for payment of compensation upto Rs 10 lakh in road accidents fatalities.
2) Improving delivery of services to the stakeholders using e-Governance.
3) To improve the registration process for new vehicles, registration at the end of the dealer is being enabled and restrictions have been imposed on temporary registration.
4) It is proposed to create National Register for DrivingLicence and National Register for Vehicle registration through “Vahan” & “Sarathi” platforms.
5) In the area of road safety, bill proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations. Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc. Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.
6) Not providing way to emergency vehicles would now be punishable with a fine of INR 10,000/-. Offences by juveniles would result in their parents/the vehicle owner in being punished with a fine of INR 25,000/- and imprisonment of upto 3 years.
The stricter punishments are the highlight of the amended Bill and a 1000 rupee fine for helmet-less riding is sure to ensure riders wear their helmets without fail.
How well the new rules would be executed on the roads is a huge question, since this also opens the doors to corruption, with bribing a traffic cop becoming the cheaper alternative to paying the legal fine.
Official Communication : http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=148308
There have been a slew of amendments across sections but some of the most important ones are listed below.
1) Increase in compensation for Hit & Run cases from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 2 lakhs. It also has provision for payment of compensation upto Rs 10 lakh in road accidents fatalities.
2) Improving delivery of services to the stakeholders using e-Governance.
3) To improve the registration process for new vehicles, registration at the end of the dealer is being enabled and restrictions have been imposed on temporary registration.
4) It is proposed to create National Register for DrivingLicence and National Register for Vehicle registration through “Vahan” & “Sarathi” platforms.
5) In the area of road safety, bill proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations. Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc. Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.
6) Not providing way to emergency vehicles would now be punishable with a fine of INR 10,000/-. Offences by juveniles would result in their parents/the vehicle owner in being punished with a fine of INR 25,000/- and imprisonment of upto 3 years.
The stricter punishments are the highlight of the amended Bill and a 1000 rupee fine for helmet-less riding is sure to ensure riders wear their helmets without fail.
How well the new rules would be executed on the roads is a huge question, since this also opens the doors to corruption, with bribing a traffic cop becoming the cheaper alternative to paying the legal fine.
Official Communication : http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=148308
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