The Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill – 2016 has increased the dues on legal violators of the Bill in an attempt to bring a more serious atmosphere in regard to road safety violations.
With a vision of improving road safety, the Union Cabinet has revised the Motor Vehicle Bill with higher penalties and a few new legal offences in an attempt to impose a more serious atmosphere to violators of road safety regulations.
The most significant update comes in the form of the revised fine for hit and run cases and road accident fatalities. In case of hit and run incidents the fine has gone up from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 2 lakh while compensation for road accident fatalities has gone up to Rs. 10 lakh.
Other important revisions in penalties in the revised Motor Vehicle Bill come in the form of fine for drunk driving being hiked from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000. Rs. 10,000 is also the penalty for a few other road safety violations, such as - driving despite disqualification and not providing way for emergency vehicles.
Road safety violators in relation to over speeding will now have to shell out Rs. 1,000 for LMVs and Rs. 2,000 for medium passenger vehicles while not wearing a helmet will get you a fine of Rs. 1,000 and can get your driver’s license disqualified for three months.
The new bill also factors in offences committed by enforcing authorities who will have to pay twice the penalty under the relevant section.
Here is the full list of proposed amendments in various penalties under the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill 2016:
| Section | Offence | Old Provision / Penalty | New Proposed Provision / Minimum Penalties |
| 177 | General | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| New 177A | Rules of road regulation violation | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| 178 | Travel without ticket | Rs. 200 | Rs. 500 |
| 179 | Disobedience of orders of authorities | Rs. 500 | Rs. 2,000 |
| 180 | Unautorized use of vehicles without licence | Rs. 1,000 | Rs. 5,000 |
| 181 | Driving without licence | Rs. 500 | Rs. 5,000 |
| 182 | Driving despite disqualification | Rs 500 | Rs 10,000 |
| 182 B | Oversize vehicles | New | Rs. 5,000 |
| 183 | Over speeding | Rs. 400 | Rs. 1,000 for LMV, Rs. 2,000 for Medium Passenger Vehicles |
| 184 | Dangerous driving penalty | Rs. 1,000 | Upto Rs. 5,000 |
| 185 | Drunken driving | Rs. 2,000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| 189 | Speeding / Racing | Rs 500 | Rs 5,000 |
| 192 A | Vehicle without permit | upto Rs 5,000 | Upto Rs 10,000 |
| 193 | Aggregators (violations of licencing conditions) | New | Rs 25,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 |
| 194 | Overloading | Rs 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 per extra tonne | Rs 20,000 and Rs. 2,000 per extra tonne |
| 194 A | Overloading of passengers | Rs. 1,000 per extra passenger | |
| 194 B | Seat belt | Rs. 100 | Rs. 1,000 |
| 194 C | Overloading of two wheelers | Rs. 100 | Rs. 2,000, Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 D | Helmets | Rs. 100 | Rs. 1,000, Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 E | Not providing way for emergency vehicles | New | Rs. 10,000 |
| 196 | Driving Without Insurance | Rs. 1,000 | Rs. 2,000 |
| 199 | Offences by Juveniles | New | Guardian / owner shall be deemed to be guilty. Rs 25,000 with 3 yrs imprisonment. For Juvenile to be tried under JJ Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle to be cancelled |
| 206 | Power of Officers to impound documents | Suspension of driving licenses u/s 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 194C, 194D,194E | |
| 210 B | Offences committed by enforcing authorities | Twice the penalty under the relevant section |
Making things more convenient for people, the revised bill will also allow facilities to obtain learning driver’s licenses online. Although considering the wrath of untrained drivers on the road, this may not be the best idea. In this context, the bill also arguably scraps the requirement for educational qualifications for a transport license.
But allowing people to increase the validity of their driving license online would be helpful. But then again who will be taking responsibility for people with physical limitations renewing their licenses online remains to be seen.
Also read: Vehicle dependability improves in India – JD Power
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