Tag: #MotorVehiclesAmendmentAct

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2022

Posted on

OVERVIEW

All facets of road transport vehicles are governed under the Motor Vehicles Act1, an Act of the Indian Parliament. The Act details the legislative requirements for driver and conductor license, vehicle registration, permit-based motor vehicle control, special provisions for state transportation undertakings, traffic law, insurance, liability, offenses, penalties, etc. The Central Motor Vehicles Rules2 was created in 1989 by the Indian government to implement the legislative provisions of the Act. The Motor Vehicle (Fifth Amendment) Act of 2022 implemented the most recent of the Act’s five amendments, which have been made since it went into effect in 1988.

Sections 50 to 57, including Section 93 of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019 were notified by the Central Government. Insurance of motor vehicles against third-party risks, that were covered under Chapter IX of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 has been replaced by Section 51 to 57 of the Motor vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019. Similar amendments have also been made regarding the filing of claims before the motor accident claims tribunal under sections 163, 166, 168, and 169 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The second schedule of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 under Section 163A, which provided for the structural formula for non-fault basis compensation has also been omitted, by Section 93 of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019.

AMENDMENTS MADE TO THE ACT

  • Omissions under Chapter X of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988- Provisions of interim compensation, that came under no-fault liability, i.e., Sections 140 to 144, are omitted and no other interim compensation has been made available in the motor accident claims.
  • Replacement of Chapter XI- Insurance provisions for Motor Vehicles relating to third party risks, i.e., Sections 145 to 164, were replaced with new provisions as under Section 145 to 164D.

NEW PROVISIONS MADE UNDER THE REPLACEMENT OF CHAPTER XI

  • Section 149 (1) Designated Officer to be appointed by the Insurance firm within 10 days of an accident- A designated officer shall be appointed within 10 days upon receiving accident information by the insurance firm. The accident information shall be received through an Accident Information Report or by the claimant himself. All claims relating to any such accidents would be settled by the designated officer.
  • Section 149 (2) Insurance firm’s settlement offer- As per rules prescribed under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, the Designated Officer is responsible for making a settlement offer on behalf of the insurance firm within 30 days.
  • Section 149 (3) (a) Award of Consent by Claims Tribunal- The Claims Tribunal will pass an award based on the recorded settlement, enforcing the insurance firm to make complete payment of the claim within 30 days of the recording of settlement, if the claimant accepts the offer made by the Designated Officer.
  • Section 149 (3) (b) Rejection of Settlement Offer by Claimant- The Claims Tribunal, shall amend the date of hearing, upon a rejection of the settlement offer by the claimant, and shall adjudicate the claims upon merits.
  • Section 150 – Satisfaction of Award or Judgement against persons insured under third party risks is the responsibility of the Insuring firm- Irrespective of the fact whether the insurer could avoid, cancel, or may have avoided and canceled the policy in the past, the insurance firm would still be responsible for the payment of the compensation. The insurance premium paid by cheques that were dishonored has become a strong defense for insurance firms, and they may claim that policy’s premium was not received by the firm. Under Section 185, driving under influence has also been added as a defense to be used by Insurance firms.
  • Section 156 – Insurance firm cannot refuse a claim after the death of the insured in an accident- Under this new provision, if an insured person dies in an accident, the insurance firm cannot withhold or refuse to give a Motor Accident Claim.
  • Section 158 (1) All documents relating to vehicle’s use shall be duly presented by the driver- All documents like the driver’s license, fitness certificate, insurance certificate, vehicle registration, and so on should be presented to the Police Officer by the driver of the vehicle.
  • Section 158 (2) All documents relating to the accident to be produced are the owner’s responsibility- All documents as mentioned above, if not presented by the vehicle’s driver, it is hence the owner’s responsibility to present documents to a police officer.
  • Section 159 – Accident Information Report to be filed at the Claims Tribunal within three months by the Police Officers- As per the new provisions, the responsibility to file the Accident Information Report within three months of the accident lies with the police officers.
  • Section 160 – Furnishing particulars of accidental vehicles to the claimants is the responsibility of the Police Officers and Registering Authority- Upon the payment of all fees prescribed, it is the duty of the Police Officers and Registering Authority to provide information about the accident to the claimant.
  • Section 161 – Increase in Hit and Run Compensation- According to the new provisions, the compensation for hit and run claims has been increased from INR 25,000/- to INR 2,00,000/- in cases of death of the claimant, and from INR 25,000/-to INR 50,000/- in cases of injury.
  • Section 162 – Golden Hour Scheme– Section 2 (12A) defines Golden Hour as the period of one hour after suffering a life-threatening injury during an accident, during which death is prevented by providing immediate medical care. This provision ensures that the Insurance firms provide cashless treatment of victims of road accidents during the Golden Hour period.
  • Section 164 – No-Fault Liability related compensations– Structured formula for no-fault liability compensation, which was provided under Section 163A in the second schedule of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, is omitted under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 2019. The claimant of such compensations under section 164, cannot claim compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The monetary compensation for such claims stands at INR 5,00,000/- in case of claimant’s demise and INR 2,50,000/- in case of life-threatening injury, without proving the driver’s negligence.
  • Section 164 (A) Scheme-making powers to grant interim relief- The Central Government shall possess the power to make schemes to grant interim relief to claimants, under Section 164 (A).
  • Section 164 (B) Funds for Motor Vehicle Accidents- The central government has the power to form a separate fund for Motor Vehicle Accidents to facilitate mandatory insurance to cover all the roads in the country. The fund may be put in use to provide medical treatment for injured persons in a road accident and in the case of a hit and run the fund is used to reimburse the next of kin of the dead or to the person who suffered life-threatening injuries. The central government can pay compensations to persons out of this fund under Section 164 (B). Rules can be put in place to whom compensation can be paid under section 164 (C)(2)(W). The central government has the authority to decide the maximum amount of liability to be paid to a person under Section 164 (3)(D).
  • Section 164C – Rule Making Power of Central Government- The central government can put regulations in place to undertake the provisions of Chapter XI through Section 164C, including the form of Accident Information Report, submitting claims to the tribunal in which manner and time, regulations of making compensatory payments under Section 164(1). Through Section 164A (2), it can recover funds for the scheme and may credit the income source into the Fund for Motor Vehicle Accidents under Section 164B (1).
  • Section 166(3) Compensation making limitations- Through this provision, a six-month period of limitation has been introduced since the accident occurred, to apply for the filing of compensation. No period of limitation existed before this provision was introduced.
  • Section 166(5) After the demise of the injured, the legal representatives are permitted to continue the claim– The legal representatives of the diseased who was previously injured, are allowed to continue the claim after the demise of the injured, only if the death is related to or has some connection with the injury.
  • Section 173(2) If the award of claims is less than INR 1,00,000/ no appeals are permitted- Under this provision, if in a dispute the award of claims is less than INR 1,00,000/-, then there shall be no appeals permitted against the Claim Tribunal’s award as under Section 173(2).

CENTRAL MOTOR VEHICLES (FIFTH AMENDMENT) RULES, 2022

The Central Motor vehicles (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2022 provide for procedures to investigate and adjudicate Motor Vehicle Claims. These rules came into force on 1st April, 2022 and regulated the timeframe to complete all investigations and adjudication within six months to one year. All the claimants shall receive their claims within one year of the accident due to this provision. Following are the rules that were formed by the Delhi High Court in the case of Rajesh Tyagi v. Jaibir Singh3 for the speedy settlement of motor vehicle accident claims-

  • Form – I i.e., the First Accident Report shall be filed at the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal by the Police Officers within 48 hours of the accident.
  • The victims should be made aware of their rights by the police officers within 10 days of the accident under Form II.
  • Within 30 days of the accident, the driver of the offending vehicle should submit driver’s Form III to the police officers.
  • Within 30 days of the accident, the driver owner of the offending vehicle should submit owner’s Form IV to the police officers.
  • Upon the verification of the owner and driver’s forms, the police officers must submit an Interim Accident Report to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal within 50 days of the accident.
  • Within 60 days of the accident, the victim must submit the victim’s form VI and VI(A) to the police.
  • Within 90 days from the accident, the police must submit the Detailed Accident Report Form VII to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal.
  • Within 30 days of the receipt of the Detailed Accident Report, the insurance firm shall verify the victim’s form VI and is then required to submit its findings and offer of settlement before the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal.
  • The Claims Tribunal will pass a Consent Award within 6 months of the accident, if the insurance firm accepts the liability and submits a fair claim offer.
  • If the amount offered by the insurance firm is not fair and is not accepted by the claimant, the Claims Tribunal shall allow arguments from both sides with respect to the compensation quantum and pass an award within 9 months of the accident.
  • The Claims Tribunal shall conduct an inquiry that would be completed after 12 months of the accident if the Insurance firm disputed the liability.

CONCLUSION

Hence, with the new provisions in place we get to know that the central government has taken up the responsibility to ensure that the vehicles on the Indian roads are insured, and the centre may allocate funds to individuals for the reimbursement of damages suffered by victims of hit and run cases, using the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. We can also see that steps have been taken to increase the compensatory amounts in case of injury and deaths, the reason behind which may be to facilitate the legal representatives and the next of kin in much better ways. We can also infer that in case of long-lasting disputes, the central government can provide interim relief to victims. Therefore, we can conclude by inferring that the new amendments that have been brought into place have been done so to better facilitate the motor vehicle damage claims, the results of which have started to be seen already.

CITATIONS

1. The Motor Vehicles Act 1988, available at https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1988-59.pdf
2. Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, available at https://morth.nic.in/central-motor-vehicles-rules-1989-1
3. Rajesh Tyagi v. Jasbir Singh, IV (2010) ACC 859.

This article is written by Namay Khanna, is a 3rd year BBA LLB (Hons.) student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT 1988

Posted on

ABSTRACT

The article makes a sincere effort to capture the journey and improvements made under the Motor Vehicles Act which was first enacted on 1st July 1988 and thereupon amended in 2019 by the act of parliament.

INTRODUCTION

Transportation acts as a vital pillar of the social infrastructural development of any country. In a developing country like India, cheap and efficient means of transportation boosts connectivity. Connectivity aids uniform and cost-effective distribution of goods and services thereby spurring economical development. In such a state of affairs, the development of a robust grid of transportation networks assumes a center space. In the Indian sub context, road transportation is the most sort after category for commercial and personal transportation.

Hence, the need for the development of road transportation was felt hard, keeping in mind the benefits of connectivity. The compelling push for the development of road transport infrastructure combined with the increasing gross income of average middle-class Indian due to economic prosperity led to drastic demand for motor vehicles ranging from commercial ones such as trucks, lorry, etc. to personal ones such as cars, bikes, etc. The effect of this fundamental shift led to the dotting of the national roads with an increased number of motor vehicles culminating in congestion of roads, increased no of road accidents, vehicular crimes, noise pollution, instances of careless and rash driving, etc. all indicating acute need for due and systematic regulation of road traffic.

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKS

A. The Motor Vehicles Act 1988
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 1 is comprehensive legislation that caters to the needs of providing an effective framework for management and regulation of the vehicular road traffic, minimization of road accidents, and enhancement of road safety. The act was enacted by the parliament and came into force on 1 st July 1989. It replaced Motor Vehicles Act,1939, which earlier replaced the first such enactment Motor Vehicles Act,1914. The Act laid down the detailed provisions relating to the motor vehicles laws and chalked out efficiently even the minutest details such as eligibility, requirements, suspension and disqualification of driving license and learners license, registration of vehicles, permits, insurance, claim tribunals, traffic rules, appeals, compensation, etc. Furthermore, the act provides a vast array of penalties for the violation of traffic rules.

Key Features
1. Object

  • The main object of the act was to take care of the increasing number of both commercial vehicles and personal vehicles in the country.
  • It sought to encourage the adoption of high-end technology in the automotive sector so as to provide for greater connectivity at affordable prices.
  • To lay down road safety standards, pollution control measures, and standards for the transportation of hazardous and explosive materials.
  • To lay down procedure and policy so as to liberalize the entry and operation of the private sector in the road transport field which was earlier dominated by the presence and participation of the government sector.
  • To lay down parameters and standards for the manufacture and use of motor vehicles parts so as to curb vehicular emissions and protect the environment.
  • To provide a mechanism for registration and licensing of newer types of personal and commercial vehicles.
  • To chalk out an effective mechanism for tracking down traffic offenders.
  • To entail greater flow of passengers and freight with the least impediments so as to address the concerns of transportation dysconnectivity and isolation which led to the creation of regional or local imbalances, thereby leading to economic dysfunction.
  • To protect consumers’ interest in the Transport Sector and provide a speedy remedy for adjudication of consumer disputes who had to previously go for the long-drawn procedures of the civil suits as is required under Fatal Accidents Act, 1855.
  • To provide for the establishment of claims tribunals for adjudication of compensation to be given to the victims of accidents involving motor vehicles and insurance of the vehicles.

2. The centerpiece of this act was the formation of a comprehensive adjudication mechanism for grant of compensation to the victims of road accidents, as earlier, due to the lacunae of previous legislations, the drivers could escape their negligence and were not held accountable for their actions. The MV Act 1988 provided a vent for the speedy redressal of the above disputes and added to the cause of innocent victims.

3. Section 3 of the Motor Vehicle Act made it mandatory for a driver of the motor vehicle to have a valid driver’s license i.e. DL for driving at any public place which shall be issued to him by the authorizing officer. A DL or learner’s license is valid and effective throughout India.
Furthermore, no vehicle can be driven without obtaining a valid registration certificate under the motor vehicles act. The registration certificate so issued shall be valid from the date of issuing to the next fifteen years which can be further renewed for five more years.

4. Section 4 of the MV Act prescribes the age criteria for driving motor vehicles as per which people under the age of eighteen years and people under the age of twenty years shall not drive a motor vehicle and transport vehicle respectively in any public place. However, a person aged 16 years or more may drive a motor vehicle in a public place with an engine capacity of less than 50cc.

5. Section 6 prescribes restrictions for holding of more than 2 DLs except in the case of learners license or holding of central government vehicle license or others if any, as prescribed by law.

6. Section 8 enumerates the conditions for granting learners licenses. Learners so granted shall be effective for a period of six months from the date of its issuance.

7. Section 9 deals with the grant of a driving license. A DL granted under Section 9 shall be valid for a period of 20 years or until the age of 40 years of the applicant; whichever is earlier and in case of transport vehicle, the DL shall be effective for a period of 3 years. Section 15 is regarding the renewal of driving licenses.

8. Section 19 enumerates about disqualification or revocation of DL by licensing authority after giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to the holder of DL.

9. Section 26 provides for maintenance of a State Register of Driving Licenses, in respect of driving licenses issued and renewed by the licensing authorities of the State Government.

10. Section 146 of the Act makes it mandatory to insure motor vehicles.

11. The Motor Vehicle Act 1988 covers various offenses for the contravention of the rules mentioned therein and lays down penalties for the violation of the same such as Section 39 provides a penalty for not having a valid registration certificate of the vehicle, Section 129 for riding without a helmet, Section 184 for over-speeding and doing rash driving, Section 138(3) for driving the vehicle without fastening seat belt and many more.

B. The Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019-
With ever-growing modernization and globalization, a significant pattern of change in the behavioral use of vehicles became evident in 21 st century especially after the year 2010. Instances of reckless and rash driving, violation of traffic rules such as nonuse of helmets, seat belts, use of unregistered vehicles and permits, etc. became rampant and common. The paltry and meager amount of penalties prescribed under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 for the violation of rules mentioned therein fell acutely short to deter those violations and further perpetuated the careless and reckless attitude of the people. It was in this background that the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act2 was enacted and passed by the parliament on 31 st July August 2019. The Act has been in force since 1 st September 2019 and seeks to amend some of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. It aims to make the roads safer and bolster the regulations in order to deter violations of the traffic norms. The act provides for a manifold increase of penalties for the violation of traffic rules, recall of defective vehicles, provisions for the protection of good Samaritans, the constitution of National Road Safety Boards, and a host of other reforms.

Key Features:
1. Compensation for victims of road accidents:
In the context of hit and run cases, the act has significantly increased the fixed minimum amount of compensation to be given in cases of deaths from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 Lakh, and in cases of grievous injury, from Rs 12,500 to Rs 50,000.

2. Recall of vehicles:
The Act provides for recalling of those defected motor vehicles by the central government which may cause harm to the environment, or to the common people in general.

3. Creation of Road Safety Boards:
The amended Act prescribes the establishment of National Road Safety Boards which will be created by the central government in order to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.

4. Increment in the quantum of fines 3
i. The amended Act has increased the fine for drinking and driving 5 times the penalty prescribed under the older Act from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 along with imprisonment of 6 months. Consequent repetition of drinking and driving would lead to a fine of Rs. 15,000.
ii. Fine for rash driving is now increased from Rs 1000 to Rs. 5000 under the amended act.
iii. There has been a colossal increase of 10 times in the fine for driving without DL which now stands fixed at Rs 5000 in contrast to the earlier chargeable amount of Rs.500.
iv. The amended act introduced a new category of offenses by the Juveniles as per which the Guardian of the Juvenile, who would be the owner of the vehicle will now be fined Rs. 25,000 and up to Rs 3 years of imprisonment for contravention of traffic rules by the Juvenile and the Juvenile shall be tried accordingly under the Juveniles Justice Act. Furthermore, in such cases of contravention and conviction of the juveniles, registration of Motor Vehicles shall be canceled.
v. The amended Motor Vehicles Act lays down standards for the manufacture of motor vehicles parts, the contravention of which would result in a fine of up to Rs 100 crore, or imprisonment of up to one year, or both to the manufacturers of such motor parts.
vi. Section 196 of the amended Motor Vehicle Act, 2019 prescribes a fine of Rs 2000 for driving the vehicle without Insurance.
vii. Section 194 D of the amended Act prescribes a fine of Rs 1000 for riding without helmets and disqualification of license for up to 3 months.
vii. Driving without a seat belt will now be fined at Rs. 1000 under section 194B of the amended Act.
ix. Fine for speeding/racing has now been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 500.
x. Fine for driving vehicles without a permit has been increased from Rs.5000 to Rs. 10000 and fine for over-speeding have been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 2000.
xi. Under section 194 E of the Act; not providing a way for emergency vehicles e.g. ambulances will now cost up to Rs 10,000.

CONCLUSION

The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 was enacted with the objective of improving road traffic management and safety; enhancing the regulatory mechanism of licensing and registration, and minimizing road accidents. However, the compelling forces of modernization of 21 st century made many provisions of this act inconsistent and obsolete with the pace of development of current times, thereby leading to a lack of deterrence and perpetuation of irrational and reckless behavior as regards traffic etiquettes. This led to the enactment of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019 that sought to take care of the lacunae created due to the inconsistency of the previous Act by systematic consolidation and amendment of the previous Act, thereby prescribing a host of rigorous punitive and improvising measures.

References:

  1. https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1988-59.pdf
  2. https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/210413.pdf
  3. https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-motor-vehicles-amendment-bill-2019

Written by Riya Ganguly student at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College, Pune.