Law in the Making: Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2017

Context and background

The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2017 has been brought for comprehensive amendments in the 1988 existing Act. It talks on important issues like road safety, compensation and insurance, regulation of taxi aggregators and vehicle recall. This Amendment Bill was presented by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in the Lok Sabha on August 9, 2016. After the Lok Sabha's Standing Committee and the selection committee, after passing the bill, the Lok Sabha passed it in 2017, which has been sent to the Rajya Sabha for approval. In the winter session of Parliament, this bill will be presented for discussion.

• This Act provides standards for motor vehicles. It also provides for penal penalty for issuing a driving license and violating these provisions.
• It is notable that according to the report of the International Road Organization, 12.5 lakh people worldwide are killed in road accidents every year and India's share is more than 10 percent.

Committee Report on Road Safety

• According to the International Road Organization, 12 lakh people are killed every year due to road accidents and around 500,000 people are affected. About 12 per cent of these incidents happen only in India, which are the highest in any country in the world.
• Due to increasing vehicles in India, road accidents are increasing rapidly. In the year 2007, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways constituted a Committee on Road Safety which in its report suggested to set up Road Safety Authority at the Center and State level.
• In 2016, a group of state transport ministers had suggested amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to resolve important issues related to road safety.
• Accordingly, it has been suggested to adopt various measures in the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill.
• At present, there are 223 streams in the Motor Vehicles Act, out of which 68 amendments in streams are the aim of this bill.
• Chapter 10 has been removed in it and Chapter 11 has been replaced by new provisions so that the third party insurance claims and settlement process can be simplified.

Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2017: Major provisions of the 
main provisions of the following are-

1. National Transportation Policy

• The Bill requires the Central Government to make a national transport policy in consultation with the states.
• Under this policy, mechanism for providing roadmap for mechanisms, permits and plans for development of roads and identifying priorities for road transport system.

2. Care of victims of the accident

• A scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims will be developed during the 'Golden Hour' by the Central Government.
• According to the bill, the 'golden hour' is a period of time after a fatal injury, when it is possible to reduce the chances of death by making available medical facilities immediately.

3. Vehicle Recalls

• The Bill allows the Central Government to order a recall (recall) of such motor vehicles, such as a malfunction which can harm the environment or drivers or people using the road.
• If the central government receives a notice of failure in the vehicle then the vehicle can be recalled. In such a situation, the automaker has to return the full price of the vehicle to the buyer or the bad vehicle has to be replaced with the other vehicle (which is of similar or superior characteristics).

4. Hit and run cases

• In cases such as Hit and Run in the Bill, there is a provision to increase the compensation amount from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. Two lakh rupees or more (as the Central Government will offer) on death.

5. Automotive Accident Fund

• The bill has been expected to create a motor vehicle accident fund from the Central Government. This fund will provide compulsory insurance cover to all those who use roads in India.

6. Aggregator Services

• The bill defines aggregator as digital intermediary or market place. It has been said that the taxi healing app is being brought under it.
• To connect with the driver for the purpose of transport, passengers can use aggregator services. These aggregators have to be licensed and comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• In the Bill, the State Governments have been given the right to license the aggregator under the central government guidelines.

7. Protection of noble persons (Good Samaritan)

• According to the bill, the person (good samaritan) is the person who provides emergency medical or non-medical help to the victim during the accident.
• Such person shall not be liable for any civil or criminal proceeding in the event of any injury or death of the accident victim.
• The Central Government can make provisions for inquiries or revealing personal information by rules.

8. Transport plans

• The Bill requires State Governments to make transportation plans that meet specific objectives.
• They include connectivity from the last place, reducing traffic congestion and the safety of those using the road.

9. Electronic Services

• The provision of computerization of certain services has been made in the bill. These include: issuing licenses or permits, filling in forms or applications (eg licenses and registration), receipt of funds (refund) and change of address.
• The State Government must ensure electronic inspection and enforcement for road safety on national highways, state highways and urban roads.
• The central government will make rules for such inspection.

10.Drink driving

• Under the Act, penalties for various crimes have been increased in the bill.
• For example, in the condition of alcohol or drug addiction, maximum penalty has been increased from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000.

11. Deterioration in vehicle manufacturing

• If the motor vehicle manufacturer fails to comply with the norms of construction or maintenance of motor vehicles, then penalty up to a maximum up to Rs 100 crores or imprisonment upto one year or both can be punished.

12. Responsibilities of Parents of Adolescents

• The offenses committed by juveniles in the bill have also been taken into account.
• In such cases, the parents of the parents or motor vehicle owners will be held liable unless they prove that the crime was done without the information of the guardian or they used to take appropriate precautions to prevent crime.

Validity of driving license

• The validity of the driving license under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is valid for 20 years from the date of its release or the license holder is valid till the completion of 50 years.
• Once the age of 50 is completed, the legality of the license can be increased for 5 years.
• In the current bill 7 categories have been prescribed for the validity of the license.
• The holder's license between 30 to 50 years of age is valid for 10 years.
• The holder's license between the ages of 50 and 55 years will be valid till the age of 60 years.
• After the age of 55, its validity will be for 5 years. In the case of a driving license in the bill, computerization, permit and payment of fine are made mandatory.
• Video recording of test has been made compulsory for learning license. Therefore, no driving license can be issued without a test.

Why is this bill important and what will be the impact on the citizens of India?

• In the last decade, millions of people have been killed in road accidents. More than 400 deaths per day in the country are due to road accidents, which is not less than any epidemic.
• Unfortunately, the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, Transportation and Safety aspects have not been fulfilled. Therefore, in the current bill many such provisions have been added which were not in the 1988 Act.
• For example, there is no provision in respect to the protection of juveniles in the 1988 Act.
• Although the Supreme Court has prepared guidelines for children's safety, 20 children under the age of 14 years of age die in road accidents in India.
• Bill's intent is to ensure the safety of children by using helmets, children's restriction mechanism and adult accountability mechanism.
• Due to faulty roads, road accidents are often seen. For the first time in the history of the country, road designing engineering has been held responsible for faulty roads.
• The number of roads in the country is increasing steadily. Between 2005 and 2015, there has been an increase of about 44 percent in the length of roads in the country.
• The more the number of roads will increase, the faster the vehicles will also come on the roads and the number of road accidents will be the same. But the effective move to prevent accidents at the same speed could not be taken.
• Looking at the engineering aspect, it is responsible for the design of the road and the implementation of traffic management schemes on the road. This aspect has not been extended in the pre-budget provision.
• But in this bill Road Designer, Consultants and Steakholder Agency have been made responsible for design and operation.
• Definitely this bill will help in making the roads safer.

What changes need to be made in the design of roads?

• In May 2011, the United Nations General Assembly announced road safety measures for the year 2011-2020, due to the rapidly increasing number of injuries caused by road accidents and deaths worldwide.
• Its goal is to "stabilize or reduce the death statistics in the global road traffic accident by 2020".
• There are five focus pillers in it:

1. Road safety management
 
2. Secure Infrastructure
 
3. Safe vehicle
 
4. Behavior of street users
 
5. Reaction after accident

• The role of designers, engineers and traffic managers is crucial for the safe infrastructure. Road users should not be fooled in any kind of accident.
• To ensure this, it is very important to keep in mind the road design with the concept of road safety.
• We must implement Road Safety Audit. This is a concept under which an independent party, which is not a designer or implementing agency, takes into account all the aspects related to security before implementation.
• Assistance and compensation for accident victims
• As far as the assistance of the victims is concerned, the guidelines have been fixed for the noble persons coming forward to assist in this bill, which will prove to be a game changer. This will encourage defenders to help.
• In the 2001 report of the Law Commission, it was said that 50 percent of those killed in road accidents can be saved by providing timely treatment.
• The second aspect is compensation. At present, the victim and his family had to fight for long periods to get compensation.
• But in the current bill, arrangements have been made to provide some money to the victim's family immediately after the accident. After that, insurance and compensation proceedings will start for the victim.

Need of Central Transportation System in the Country

• There is a dire need for a central agency to control the transport system and safety systems in the country, which is responsible for road design and improved road.
• Transportation is the subject of the state. Therefore, there is no control over the Center for implementation of certain laws related to road safety. In such a situation, a central agency is required to implement uniform guidelines throughout the country.
• As far as responsibility of various departments is concerned, then this responsibility should be first put on the road construction agency as it is the responsibility of providing better and safe road infrastructure.
• The other responsibility is to the Transport Authority which is responsible for issuing the security, care and driving license of vehicles, because the driver is an important link in the security system.
• Therefore, drivers should be issued driver's license in a proper and professional way. When a trained driver is issued a license through proper channel and minimum human intervention, then eligible and safe drivers will be able to operate the vehicles, which will reduce the accidents.

Forward path

• Driving license to untrained driver is like handling weapons in his hand because the weapon works only to kill people. Therefore, training mechanism and evaluation mechanism need to be improved.
• It is often seen that the names of the same person are issued many driving licenses from different territories, which is a very big challenge. Therefore, the process of issuing a driver's license needs to be centralized.
• Attempts have now been made to centralize the driving license through the biometric system so that it can be ensured that only one license is issued to one person.
• Driving licenses should be linked with fingerprint and iris scan.
• The process of obtaining licenses should be simplified while ending the role of intermediaries.
• As far as safety is concerned, the state governments are equally responsible for this. Therefore there should be uniformity across the country in the driving license and registration of the vehicle.
• Registration certificates, data and registration plates of any vehicle should be made available online, as well as the registration plate should be uniform across the country.
• The quality of road engineering in the country is expected to improve, so that the quality is in line with international standards.

Conclusion

A strong side to prevent road accidents is related to the citizens' understanding of their obligation to the nation and proper implementation of traffic rules. In this bill, it has been arranged in this bill to give the legal protection to the people who are helping the injured in road accidents, and to encourage others to become vulnerable to the injured, which is very important. Among the major road accidents in the world between rising urbanization and increasing road traffic, the number of deaths in India is highest and this issue has become even more serious. Most road accidents in the country are negligent towards road safety, Traffic violates traffic regulations and humanitarian defaults. It is also in the hands of the citizens to stop road accidents. By following the simple traffic rules and creating awareness among the drivers and passengers, the road accidents can be reduced. All such steps have been taken in the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2017, which will surely reduce the road accidents, it is necessary to implement it appropriately.