Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill- Things You Should Know

Government of India recently approved the amendment to Motor Vehicle Act which claims to be a historic reform towards safety and improving the transport scenario in our country. (Update: This act has been passed by Lok Sabha as on 11th Apr 2017 and is on its way to become a law). The most important highlight of all the amendments in the act is:

Offenses committed by juveniles, the guardian/vehicle owner shall be deemed guilty and the juvenile to be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. The registration of the vehicle will be cancelled.

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I think it’s a great initiative and will finally give some food for thought to parents and guardians who foolishly let their 16 year old ride a Harley or a KTM. It will also check ‘those 3 girls/guys’ riding on a single Scooty hahah. Now when there will be a law to handle this, such scenes soon start to vanish from the road.

The penalties on violation of rules have been increased several folds (read below to find out). This will surely get mixed reactions from the people but I feel it’s definitely good. We Indians don’t pay attention to something which is made for our good and benefit unless it comes to our pockets. It’s important to know of the new amendments in the act because it’s definitely going to change the way you think about traffic law and order.

There’s going to be a national register for maintaining the records of driving licenses and vehicle registrations. It does not clarify if other states vehicles can freely drive on road without producing documents such as NOC/road tax payment.

The dealers will be able to register the vehicles at their end.

Hit & Run Cases- Increased compensation: From Rs. 25000 it has been increased to Rs. 2 lakh.

Bottlenecks have been removed for vehicle alterations for Divyangs and also the process of getting driving licenses for them.

Below is the list of new penalty amounts proposed. Important- States are free to increase these penalties by 1 to 10 times! This is going to be crazy

The penalty is heavily increased for drunken driving, no helmets, no seatbelts, racing on road, rash driving and also allows disqualification of the driving license for 3 months. Not to forget the second last point: Officers are given complete power to suspend your driving license in case of violation of these rules. I doubt you ever want to take that risk! Let's wait and see if this amendment is successfully passed in the parliament and then by our President.

Overall it gives a sense of 'fear of paying heavy fine' than promoting safety which is a bi-product of the changes proposed. What are your thoughts on this? Do comment below and don't forget to share this post.

You can read the complete press release here.

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