New Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill Passed and Here’s What You Need to Know About It
India is a country known for unsafe travels. As per WHO, traffic collision in India is one of the major source of deaths. In New Delhi, the rate of road collisions is 40 times higher than the same in London. As per the latest data, more than 1, 50,000 people are killed every year in India due to road accidents.
To curb this problem, the government decided to introduce the New Motor Vehicle Bill in 2019. The Motor Vehicle Act of 1988 was introduced more than a decade back, and since then, it was left untouched. However, due to the rise in death counts by road accidents, it definitely needed to be updated.
So, the New Motor Vehicle Bill was passed on 10 April, 2019 by Lok Sabha with more stringent laws and penalties. The Bill will be discussed in Rajya Sabha at the end of July, before it will be sent to the President of India for his assent.
“The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill. It provides steep penalties for violation of various traffic norms," said a source.
This Bill is a hope for the people who suffer with road accidents, and other motor extremities, sometimes without any fault on their part. So, let’s learn more about the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
To begin with, the Bill speaks of 68 amendments and 28 new sections in the original act. It will also introduce a new National Road Safety Board. There are stricter penalties and provisions for offences such as drunken driving, over-speeding, driving without license, and juvenile driving.
Here are some of the highlights of the new Bill.
Penalty for driving without a license: A fine of Rs. 5000 will be charged, if you are caught driving without a license. The old fine for the same was Rs. 500.
Penalty for drunken driving: Drunken driving is one of the main reasons of deaths by accident in India. A fine of Rs.10, 000 will charged to those who will be caught driving drunk. The old fine was Rs. 2000 for the same.
Penalty for driving without seatbelt: A fine of Rs. 1000 will be charged for wearing no seatbelts during driving. The old fine for the same was Rs.100. This is a massive shift in the penalty under this category.
Riding without helmet: As opposed to a fine of Rs.100, people will be charged a big penalty of Rs. 1000 for riding without a helmet. The new provisions will also include a 3-month suspension of driving license.
Speeding: In case of over-speeding, people will be charged a sum of Rs. 1000 (for LMV) and Rs. 2000 (for passenger vehicle).
Dangerous Driving: A fine of up to Rs.5000 will be charged for driving dangerously on the road. The old fine for the same was Rs.1000.
Driving without Insurance: An addition of Rs. 1000 will be charged to the older penalty of Rs. 1000 for uninsured driving. The new penalty is thus, Rs. 2000.
Blocking Emergency Vehicles: A fine of Rs. 10,000 will be introduced in this Bill, in case a vehicle doesn’t give pass to an ambulance/emergency vehicle.
Driving despite disqualification: The new fine is supposed to be Rs. 10,000. The old fine for the same was Rs. 500.
Offences by Juveniles: The guardian/owner shall be deemed to be guilty and there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 with three-year imprisonment and cancellation of registration of the Motor Vehicle. There was no fine for juveniles before this Bill.
Apart from the above provisions, there will also be a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh for violation of licensing conditions, as well as a charge of up to Rs. 20,000 will be applicable for overloading of vehicles.
There are also certain reliefs provided by the government to the deceased and their family. In case of hit-and-run, a compensation of at least Rs. 2 lakhs will be provided to the deceased person’s family.
The New Motor Vehicle Bill looks promising and we wish to see the Bill serving its purpose soon.
