Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2019 : 24 Offences and Penalties You Must Take Care Of

Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2019 that has been passed in the Lok Sabha is to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha for its approval after which the bill will become a law after the President’s approval.Speaker Om Birla has passed the Bill on the basis of a voice vote in the Lok Sabha or Lower House of Parliament. The 2019 Motor Vehicles Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. The bill strives to provide improvement in the country’s transportation laws by addressing high priority issues such as road safety, reducing deaths due to road accidents, giving heavy penalties on violation of rules, and removing corruption, giving the desired transformation to India’s road transport system.

Piyush Tewari, founder of SaveLIFE Foundation, a policy advocacy organisation working on road safety and emergency care said, “Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019 is the basic step to improve road safety in India which will help us meet our international commitments under the Brasilia Declaration of 2015 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The next step would be that it is passed in the Rajya Sabha so that it is sent to President to make it as a law".
Central govt. is developing a system for cashless treatment of road accident victims during that golden hour, the time period after an injury or road accident when there is most likelihood of preventing death by providing medical care. Moreover, citizens who come forward and help save the accident victims will not be harassed in any way whatsoever and will be known as good samaritans. A person who gives emergency medical or non-medical assistance to a victim at the scene of an accident will not be liable for any civil or criminal action for any injury to or death of an accident victim caused due to their negligence in providing assistance to the victim. The Bill increases the minimum compensation for any hit and run cases, in case of death, from Rs 25,000 to two lakh rupees, and in case of serious injury, from Rs 12,500 to Rs 50,000. A Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, would be made by the Govt. to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India. This fund will be utilised for treatment of persons injured in road accidents as per the golden hour scheme, compensation to representatives of a person who died in a hit and run accident, compensation to a person grievously hurt in a hit and run accident.

If you wish to get a driving licence (DL) in India, from now on as the bill gets on the track, there will be strictness as many presently many people who don't know how to drive also get a license. Driving test is soon to become technology driven, making less room for human interface and that will help in controlling corruption. Now after the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2019,  Centre will have the power to make new rules for the licensing authority. Creation of a national register of driving licence will include licence data for all throughout India making no room for fake driving licences thus ending corruption.

When heavy fines would be imposed upon people, that is definitely going to change the driving habits of people. Though it would be upon the Govt. to see how the implementation is done for the Motor Vehicles law 2019. From now on, you have to give way to an ambulance or fire brigade or pay a hefty fine of as much as Rs.10,000 or/and imprisonment up to six months. If a motorist or driver is found to be overspeeding, racing, or driving under the influence of alcohol, their driving licence could be suspended. The maximum penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is now increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. Road safety and reducing the number of accidents are the key priorities of the government. This would be possible only when heavy penalties are imposed which will help in more discipline and force people to respect and follow the traffic rules.

Now the Central Government can regulate taxi aggregators such as Ola and Uber as there was no law to recognise these cab aggregators. But after the bill gets passed, new guidelines for these companies will be made to make them more compliant. In case a defect of an automobile company is detected that is causing harm to the environment, or the driver, or other road users, the company needs to recall all the vehicles. A heavy penalty of upto Rs 100 crore, or imprisonment of up to one year, or both would be imposed upon a vehicle manufacturer failing to comply with motor vehicle standards. The manufacturer of the recalled vehicle needs to reimburse the buyers for the full cost of the vehicle, or replace the defective vehicle with another vehicle with similar or better specifications.

The renewal of driving license time limit has been increased from one month to one year before and after the expiry date.

From now on, there would be penalty for road contractors for faulty road designs. A penalty of up to one lakh rupees will be imposed upon a road contractor who fails to comply with road design standards. Moreover, the central government can increase fines every year by up to 10%.

Section/ Offence	Old Penalty	New Penalty (Minimum)
General (177)	Rs 100	Rs 500
Rules of road regulation violation (new 177A)	Rs. 100	Rs 500
Travelling without a ticket (178)	Rs 200	Rs 500
Disobedience of orders of authorities (179)	Rs 500	Rs 2000
Unauthorized use of vehicles without licence (180)	Rs 1000	Rs 5000
Driving without licence (181)	Rs 500	Rs 5000
Driving without qualification (182)	Rs 500	Rs 10,000
Oversized vehicles (182B)	New	Rs 5000
Over speeding (183)	Rs 400	Rs 1000 for LMV, Rs 2000 for Medium Passenger Vehicle
Talking on Mobile Phone while driving (184)	Rs 1000	Rs 5000
Rash/Dangerous driving penalty (184)	Rs. 1,000	Upto Rs 5000
Drunken driving (185)	Rs 2000	Rs 10,000
Speeding/ Racing (189)	Rs 500	Rs 5,000
Vehicle without permit (192A)	Upto Rs 5000	Upto Rs 10,000
Aggregators (violations of licencing conditions) (193)	New	Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,00,000
Overloading (194)	Rs 2,000, and Rs 1,000 per extra tonne	Rs 20,000, and Rs 2,000 per extra tonne
Overloading of Passengers (194A)	N.A.	Rs 1000 per extra passenger
Seat Belt (194 B)	Rs 100	Rs 1,000
Overloading of two-wheelers (194 C)	Rs 100	Rs 2,000 , Disqualification of licence for 3 months
Not providing way for emergency vehicles (194E)	New	Rs 10,000
Driving without insuarance (196)	Rs 1,000	Rs 2,000
Offences by Juveniles (199)	New	Guardian/ Owner shall be deemed guilty. Rs 25,000 with 3 years imprisonment. Juvenile to be tried under JJ Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle to be cancelled.
Power of officers to impound documents (206)	N.A.	Suspension of driving licence under sections 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 194C, 194D, 194E,
Offences committed by enforcing authorities (210B)	N.A.	Twice the penalty under the relevant section