Penalty Hike for Safer Rides
In 2016 India has witnessed some major changes; maybe I would say major eye-opener. After 29th September’s surgical strike and 8th November’s note ban our Prime Minister Mr. Modi has made some major amendments in motor vehicle bill 2016 and has literally changed the game. So if you think that sometimes not wearing helmet, driving without licence and insurance, speeding, hit and run, etc. Is ok or a ‘not so big deal’ then check these new amendments and you will realise it’s not ok and yes it can cost you a big deal. Every year 5lakh road accidents are reported in the country in which 1.5lakh people lose their lives. Government is committed to reduce the accidents and fatalities by 50% in five years and for the same it has decided to increase the retribution for road misbehave by 10 times the original. Penalty payment and legal hassles are always compelling punishments. Come let’s talk about some of the sizable changes:
- The major highlight is the increased in compensation for hit and run case from Rs25000 to Rs 2 lakh and 10 lakh compensation for road accident fatalities.
- The major hike in penalty for some more shortcomings are listed below:
| Section | 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 2000 |
| 180 | Unautorized use of vehicles without licence | Rs 1000 | Rs 5000 |
| 181 | Driving without licence | Rs 500 | Rs 5000 |
| 182 | Driving despite disqualification | Rs 500 | Rs 10,000 |
| 182 B | Oversize vehicles | New | Rs 5000 |
| 183 | Over speeding | Rs 400 | Rs 1000 for LMVRs 2000 for Medium passenger vehicle |
| 184 | Dangerous driving penalty | Rs 1000 | Up to Rs 5000 |
| 185 | Drunken driving | Rs 2000 | Rs 10,000 |
| 189 | Speeding / Racing | Rs 500 | Rs 5,000 |
| 192 A | Vehicle without permit | up to Rs 5000 | Up to Rs 10,000 |
| 193 | Aggregators (violations of licensing conditions) | New | Rs 25,000 toRs 1,00,000 |
| 194 | Overloading | Rs 2000 andRs 1000 per extra tonne | Rs 20,000 andRs 2000 per extra tonne |
| 194 A | Overloading of passengers | Rs 1000 per extra passenger | |
| 194 B | Seat belt | Rs 100 | Rs 1000 |
| 194 C | Overloading of two wheelers | Rs 100 | Rs 2000, Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 D | Helmets | Rs 100 | Rs 1000 Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 E | Not providing way for emergency vehicles | New | Rs 10,000 |
| 196 | Driving Without Insurance | RS 1000 | Rs 2000 |
| 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 |
Proposed Amendments in Various Penalties under Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill – 2016
- Under this act state government will lump exemptions in Stage carriage and contract carriage permits for promoting rural transport, public transport, and last mile connectivity and for passenger convenience and road safety.
- The government has also realised the power of e-governance and has enabled online driving licence, increased validity period for driving licence, and has decided to pay engrossment on driving education. The government has taken this action to bring uniformity in the process across the country.
- In India parents allow their children to drive before 18 years of age and to put a break on this practice government will held their guardians susceptive if they commit any offence and they will get 3 years imprisonment or Rs25000/- fine.
- Many automobiles company compromises on quality just to launch cheaper and more efficient products in the market, the Bill proposes to mandate the automated fitness testing for the transport vehicles with effect from 1stOctober 2018 and the testing agencies issuing automobile approvals have been brought under the perimeter of the Act. This would reduce corruption in the Transport Department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle.
- In order to increase safety for two-wheelers the government has reportedly decided to mandate ‘Automatic Headlamp On’ (AHO) in two-wheelers from 2017. Bikes will be designed with headlights that stay on as long as ignition is on
