Finaaaallllllyy! I have stretched this word just to let you know how desperately we all needed the amendment in road safety act. The PM Modi led Union cabinet has approved the motor vehicle (amendment) bill 2016 and imposed hefty fines and penalties on traffic offenders. India unfortunately is infamous for fatal road accidents; nearly five lakh accidents take place every year which consequently cost 1.5 lakh people their lives and more than 6 lakh left injured.
Our government is now looking to bring down the accidents and fatalities by up to 50 percent in the next five years. In the ongoing Motor vehicle Act there are 223 sections out of which bill seek to modify 68 of them. The Chapter 10 in the act has been replaced by Chapter 11 carrying all new provisions in verge to simplify the third party insurance and settlement procedure.
The Bill also proposes insertion of 28 new sections in the act which primarily focus on issues related to dealing with transport department, encourage automation, computerization and online services, flawless dealing with transport department, delivery of services using e-governance, amplification rural transport and other road safety issues.
However, one of the vital changes includes the implementation of heavy penalties against the violations of road safety. The parents/Guardian or the vehicle owner will be considered as guilty if a minor is found driving the car or engaged in an accident under the JJ act of registration. The accused will be fined with Rs. 25,000 along with three years of imprisonment and the registration of vehicle will be cancelled.
The reimbursement for hit and run cases has been proposed to increase from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 2 lakh while compensation for road fatalities will stand at Rs. 10 lakh. Currently, talking on mobile while driving cost you Rs. 1000 but with this new act you need to shell out Rs. 5000 for the same. Apart from these two provisions there are heaps of new proposals and alterations made in the Act along with new range of penalties:-
| Violations | Old Penalty | New proposed minimum penalties |
| General | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| Violation of road rules | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| Travel without ticket | Rs. 200 | Rs. 500 |
| Disobedience of orders of authorities | Rs. 500 | Rs. 2000 |
| Unauthorized use of vehicles without license | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 5000 |
| Driving without license | Rs. 500 | Rs.5000 |
| Driving despite disqualification | Rs. 500 | Rs. 10000 |
| Oversize vehicles | Rs. New (N/A) | Rs. 5000 |
| Over speeding (Light Motor Vehicle) | Rs. 400 | Rs. 1000 |
| Over speeding (Medium Passenger Vehicle) | Rs. 400 | Rs. 2000 |
| Dangerous driving penalty | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 5000 (up to) |
| Drink and drive | Rs. 2000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| Speeding or racing | Rs. 500 | Rs. 5000 |
| Vehicle without permit | Rs. 5000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| Violations of licensing conditions (new) | Rs. N/A | Rs. 25,000 to 1,00,000 |
| Overloading of goods | Rs. 2000 & Rs. 1000 per tonne | Rs. 20,000 & Rs. 2000 per tonne |
| Overloading of passengers | Rs. N/A | Rs. 1000 per extra passenger |
| Driving without seat belt | Rs. 100 | Rs. 1000 |
| Overloading of two wheelers | Rs. 100 | Rs. 2000, disqualification of license for three months |
| Riding without helmet | Rs. 100 | Rs. 1000, disqualification of license for 3 months |
| Not providing way for emergency vehicles | Rs. New (N/A) | Rs. 10,000 |
| Driving Without Insurance | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 2000 |
| Offences by Juveniles (new) | Rs. New (N/A) | Rs. 25,000 with 3 years Jail & Guardian or owner shall be responsible |
| Offences committed by enforcing authorities | Double the penalty under relevant section | |
| Power of officers to impound documents | Suspension of driving license under sec- 183, 184, 185, 189,190, 194C, 194D, 194E |
Some other key changes proposed including the inclusion of cab aggregators who now comes under the scrutiny of Motor vehicle law and could face a penalty between Rs. 25,000- Rs. 1 lakh if found valuating licensing norms. In addition, stipulation for facilitating online driving licenses, increasing the validity of driving licenses, confiscating the need of minimum educational qualification for transport licenses has also been kick started.
Government also proposed to create National Register for Driving License and National register for vehicle registration via Sarathi and Vahan platform in order to assist uniformity of the vary process across the country. Under the new bill agencies like ARAI have also brought under the territory of the Act, adding up it also propose to mandate the automated fitness test of vehicles from 1st October 2018. So from next time think twice or even thrice before violating any traffic rule because this time around you might have to pay things other than just money.
