The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016, which includes hefty penalties for violation of road safety rules with fines for drunken driving going up to Rs 10,000 from Rs 2,000 and driving without license going up ten times from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The much awaited bill also includes an increase in penalty for hit-and-run cases from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh and a provision of up to Rs 10 lakh compensation in case of road fatality.
The bill provides amendments in various penalties.
While the old penalty for violating road rules was Rs 100, the new minimum penalty is Rs 500. Similarly, for speeding the earlier penalty was Rs 400, the new proposed penalties for LMV (light motor vehicle) is Rs 1,000 and for medium passenger vehicle is Rs 2,000.
The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016. It is a historical step towards making our roads safe and save lakhs of innocent lives.Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport and Highways Minister
Gadkari said that the proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states, and the bill includes penalties in the range of Rs 1000-Rs 4000 for over-speeding.
As per the bill, driving without insurance will be punishable with Rs 2,000 fine and/or three-month imprisonment, while driving without helmets will attract Rs 2,000 fine and three-month suspension of license.
The provisions also include that the guardian or owner will be deemed guilty in case of road offence by juveniles, and there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 with three years imprisonment while registration of the vehicle will be cancelled.
“If aggregators are found violating licensing conditions, they will be charged a sum of up to Rs 1 lakh” while 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 and their licenses will be disqualified for three months.
The Minister said the amendments mainly focus on issues relating to improving road safety, strengthening rural transport among other things.
He said the government is committed to reducing the accidents and fatalities by 50 percent. The bill holds significance in the wake of India accounting for 5 lakh road accidents every year in which 1.5 lakh people lose their lives.
The bill was pending for long as many states had earlier expressed reservations saying that it may encroach upon their administrative rights, among other things.
(With IANS and PTI inputs)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)