What is the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019?
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 was given assent by the Indian President on 9th August 2019, after getting approval from the 2 houses i.e. the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This act was introduced to further amend the 30 years old principle act “Motor Vehicles Act, 1988“. The new act aims to revolutionize the Indian aspect towards the transport system by making Indian roads safer, reducing corruption and using the technology to revamp the country’s transportation system. The new “amended act” has been scheduled to be implemented from 1st September 2019.
In 2016, the road transport and highway ministry introduced the Bill in the Parliament, which received the assent of Lok Sabha in 2017. To overcome the frequent accidents taking place on roads in India, the ministry proposed stiffer penalties against traffic rule violations such as rash driving, over-speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and avoiding protective measures such as not wearing a helmet/seat belt or driving without a licence.
According to the government, 63 clauses(of the act) will be implemented from the 1st of September, 2019. Here are some highlighting and key measures introduced by the government in the amended act:
- The penalty on drivers operating their motor vehicles in the influence of alcohol will attract imprisonment for 6 months to 1 year along with an enhanced penalty of Rs 10,000 from Rs 2,000 earlier.
- Those driving without helmets will be penalized with an amount of Rs 1,000 and can face suspension of their licence for three months.
- There will be a fine starting from Rs 500 up to Rs 5,000 against driving without licence.
- Drivers will be penalized with an amount of Rs 10,000 for not leaving a way for fire brigades and ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
- Taxi aggregators violating driving licences will be penalized with an amount of up to Rs 1 lakh.
- Penalty on driving without a seat-belt has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000.
- Using mobile phones while driving will now invite a fine ranging from Rs 1,000 to 5,000 which was previously Rs 1,000.
- Anybody caught disregarding the orders of authorities will be penalized with a fine ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000.
- Overloaded vehicles will be penalized with an amount of Rs 20,000.
- Speed violation will cost drivers a penalty from up to Rs 400 to Rs 4,000 depending upon the type of vehicle and also with an impounding of the vehicle in case of repeated offences.
- Penalty for “rash driving” has been raised to imprisonment of 6 months to 1 year and/or penalty of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 for first offence and imprisonment of up to 2 years and/or penalty of up to Rs 10,000 for the 2nd offence.
- Against the overloading of two-wheelers, the penalty has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 2,000 with the disqualification of the rider’s license for 3 months.
- The guardian or owner of the juvenile caught for defying traffic rules will be considered as guilty and will be imprisoned for up to three years, along with a penalty of Rs 25,000 and cancellation of registration of the motor vehicle for 12 months. The juvenile will also become ineligible to get learners’ license until the age of 25 years.
- Individuals driving uninsured motor vehicles will be penalized with either Rs 1,000 and/or punishment of up to 3 months or Rs 2,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 3 months for their first offence. If the offence is repeated twice, the fine will be elevated to Rs 4,000 and/or 3 months imprisonment.
The Bill has also proposed a scheme to allow cashless treatment of victims of a road accident during the golden hour. It is a time period of up to one hour following a traumatic injury, during which the likelihood of preventing death through prompt medical care is the highest. The new law also permits the centre to ask manufacturers to recall vehicles in case of defects that cause harm to the environment.
As per the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, in India, about 1,50,000 people lose their lives every year due to large number of accidents taking place in the country. So, the above penalties levied on the traffic rules offences are expected to bring some needed changes in the transport sector of our country to make the roads more safer and less prone to accidents.
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