Government has approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill that proposes steep penalties for those who violate traffic norms. An official source told PTI that fines of up to Rs 10,000 will be issues for not providing a way to emergency vehicles as well as for driving despite being disqualified. For ensuring road safety, the Bill proposes stricter norms for offences which include juvenile driving, driving without a licence, dangerous driving, drunken driving, over-speeding and overloading. According to the provisions of the bill, cab aggregators, such as Ola and Uber, will be fined up to Rs 1 lakh. The proposals in the Bill have been made based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states. These were vetted by the Standing Committee of Parliament.
For over speeding, the amendments put the penalties in the range of Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000. Those found driving without insurance will be fined Rs 2,000. Riding a two-wheeler without a helmet will attract a fine of Rs 1,000 along with the suspension of the licence for 3 months. The provisions in the Bill also includes that guardian/owner shall be deemed to be guilty and there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 with three years imprisonment and cancellation of registration of the Motor Vehicle.
In place of Rs 100, traffic violators are now going to attract a penalty of Rs 500. Furthermore, disobedience of orders of authorities will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 2,000 in place of Rs 500 earlier. A penalty of Rs 5,000 will be given for unauthorised use of vehicles without a licence, while those driving without a licence will have to shell out the same amount and those found driving despite disqualification would be fined Rs 10,000. Penalty for dangerous driving would be increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 1,000, while drunken driving under the proposed new law would attract a fine of Rs 10,000. On the other hand, overloading of vehicles would attract a penalty of Rs 20,000.
Those not wearing seat belts would attract Rs 1,000 fine and those found not wearing helmets while driving two-wheelers would be charged a penalty of Rs 1,000 while their licences will be disqualified for three months.
For offences committed by enforcing authorities, the fine has been proposed to be double. The driving training process has also been strengthened under the proposed law. To help the road accident victims, good Samaritan guidelines have been incorporated in the Bill. The government will try to introduce the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill in the forthcoming session of Parliament, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier said. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, which had been passed by the Lok Sabha, was introduced in the Upper House in April 2017 but was referred to a select panel. After taking into account the panel’s recommendation, the bill was re-introduced in the Rajya Sabha but the debate on the bill remained inconclusive.
Image Source: PTI
