Aiming at Efficient and safe transport system
The new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019 is expected to provide an efficient, safe and corruption-free transport system in the country.

With President Ram Nath Kovind giving assent to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the government is aiming at safer roads, reduced corruption and use of technology to overhaul the country's transportation system. Towards safety, the law has proposed stiffer penalties for traffic rule violations such as over-speeding, dangerous driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and other offences such as not wearing a helmet or driving without licence.

According to Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways and MSME, the much needed amendments will improve road safety, facilitate citizens in their dealings with transport departments, strengthen rural transport, public transport and last mile connectivity through automation, computerisation and online services.

The amendments in the Bill mainly focus on issues relating to improving road safety, citizens' facilitation while dealing with the transport department, strengthening rural transport, last mile connectivity and public transport, automation and computerisation and enabling online services. Some of the important areas of amendment are as follows:

Road safety: The 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. Penalty regarding motor vehicles is to be increased by 10 per cent every year.

Vehicle fitness: The Bill mandates automated fitness testing for vehicles. This would reduce corruption in the transport department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle. Penalty has been provided for deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations as well as body builders and spare part suppliers.

Recall of vehicles: The Bill allows the Central Government to order for recall of motor vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver, or other road users.

Road safety board: The Bill provides for a National Road Safety Board, to be created by the Central Government through a notification. The Board will advise the Central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management including standards of motor vehicles, registration and licensing of vehicles, standards for road safety, and promotion of new vehicle technology.

Protection of Good Samaritan: To help road accident victims, Good Samaritan guidelines have been incorporated in the Bill. The Bill defines a Good Samaritan as a person who renders emergency medical or non-medical assistance to a victim at the scene of an accident, and provides rules to prevent harassment of such a person.

Cashless treatment during golden hour: The Bill provides for a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims as per the golden hour scheme.

Third-party insurance: The Bill has included the driver's attendant in third-party insurance. There will be no cap on liability of insurers. There will be a 10 time increase in insurance compensation, from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. The Bill also increases the minimum compensation for hit and run cases from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh in case of death, and from Rs 12,500 to Rs 50,000 in case of grievous injury.

Motor vehicle accident fund: The Bill requires the Central Government to constitute a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India.

Improving services using e-Governance: Improving delivery of services to the stakeholders using e-Governance is one of the major focuses of this Bill.  

Process of vehicle registration: 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.

Drivers training: The driving training process has been strengthened enabling faster issuance of transport licences. This will help in reducing the shortage of commercial drivers in the country.