AN ANALYSIS OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES (AMENDMENT), BILL 2017

(Term paper towards the fulfillment of assessment in the subject of Law of Torts, MV Act and
Consumer Protection)

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Saarthak Singhal Mr. Rohan Thomas

B.B.A.-LL.B.(Hons.) Faculty of Law of Torts

U.G. II-Semester (Section-B)

Roll No: 1703

Prakhar Raghuvanshi

B.B.A.-LL.B.(Hons.)

U.G. II-Semester (Section-B)

Roll No: 1703

 NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR

WINTER SESSION

JAN-MAY 2017

1. ABSTR
ACT

This article discusses about the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which
was recently passed by the Lok Sabha. It points out the various key sections of
the Motor Vehicles Act in which the amendments were proposed. The article
highlights some of the key features of the Bill and some of the innovative ideas
which were put forward in the bill by the Group of Transport Ministers(GoM).
The article also talks about the various loopholes in these ideas proposed by the
Group of Transport Ministers (GoM) and in the end, give some suggestions to
overcome these loopholes.

2. INTRODUCT
ION

A total of 4,64,910 road accidents have been reported by States and Union Territories (UTs) in
the calendar year 2017, claiming 1,47,913 lives and causing injuries to 4,70,975 persons. 1
Situation is grimmer for two wheeled motorists, the death rate for which is 8.92, higher than most
Sub - Saharan African nations. The proposed Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 3 seeks to

1
ROAD ACCIDENTS IN INDIA – 2017, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT &
HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT RESEARCH WING NEW DELHI
2
Global status report on road safety 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018. License : CC BYNC-SA 3.0
IGO.
3
Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

2
address the issues relating to road safety, citizen facilitation, strengthening public transport,
automation and computerization. The Government of India has set a target to reduce the
accidents and fatalities by 50% by the year 2020. To achieve this target, the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways (MoRTH) constituted a Group of Transport Ministers (GoM) of the
States consisting of 19 Transport Ministers of the States and recommended to amend existing
law4, Motor Vehicles Act, 19885.

With respect to the issue of road safety and to improve the facilitation of the citizens while they
are dealing with the transport departments, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
constituted a Group of Transport Ministers (GoM), headed by Sh. Yoonus Khan. A total of three
meetings were held by this group and a total of 18 Transport Ministers from different parties
took part in these meetings and they have submitted three interim reports. The Group of
Transport Ministers reported that Government should immediately bring amendments to the
present Motor Vehicles Act.

Thus, on the basis of various recommendations and other pressing requirements, Motor Vehicles
(Amendment) Bill 2016 was passed. There were 233 sections in the previous Motor Vehicles Act
out of which this bill seeks to amend 68 sections and also proposes addition of 28 new sections.
Moreover, Chapter 10 has been deleted and Chapter 11 is being replaced with certain new
provisions to simplify third party insurance claims and settlement process.

3. KEY FEATURES OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT,

1988

4.

5. KEY FEATURES OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES (AMENDMENT BILL) 2017

4
Naushad Alam & Shalima Sharma, MEMBERS' REFERENCE SERVICE LARRDIS LOK SABHA
SECRETARIAT, NEW DELHI, The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
5
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

3
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION POLICY
The bill requires the Central Government to develop a National Transportation Policy 6. This
policy will help in:

(a) Establishing a planning framework for road transport.

(b) Developing a proper framework for grant of permits and schemes.
(c) Identifying and specifying priorities for the road transport system.

COMPULSORY INSURANCE
According to one of the recommendations of the bill, the Central Government should constitute a
Motor Vehicle Accident Fund7. This fund will be providing compulsory insurance cover to all
road users in India. It will be managed by an authority as specified by the central government.

HIT AND RUN SCHEME

The compensation payable to the victims of ‘Hit and Run’ cases has been enhanced to Rs.
2,00,000 in death cases and to Rs.50,000 in case of bodily injury from Rs.25,000 and Rs.12,500
respectively.8

CARE FOR ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS

The Central Government is required to develop a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident
victims during the golden hour. According to the bill, golden hour is the time period of up to an
hour following the traumatic injury and during which the chances of preventing death through
proper medical care is the highest.9

PROTECTION OF GOOD SAMARITANS

As explained in the bill, a Good Samaritan is the person who provides the emergency medical or
non-medical care to the victim at the scene of accident. Such assistance must have been made:

(a) In good faith.

(b) Voluntary

6
Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016, §66A, cl. 28.
7
Id. at §164B, cl. 49.
8
Id. at §161, Ch. XI.
9
Id. at cl.12A.

4
 (c) Without the expectation of any reward.10

Such a person will not be liable for any injury to or death of an accident victim. However, the
Central Government may provide for procedures related to their questioning. This provision is
incorporated following the directions of the Supreme Court in the case of Save Line Foundation
vs. Union of India11

ELECTRONIC SERVICES
The bill provides for the computerization of some services. These services include issue or grant
of licenses or permits, filling of applications or forms 12, receipt of money such as fines etc. The
state government is required to ensure electronic monitoring on national highways, state
highways and urban roads. The rules for such monitoring will be made by the Central
Government.13

OFFENCES BY JUVENILES
The bill also recognizes the offence committed by the juveniles. In these cases the guardian of
the juvenile or the owner of that motor vehicle will be liable unless they prove that:

(a) The offence was committed without their knowledge.

(b) Due diligence was exercised by them to prevent the commission of the offence.14

COMMUNITY SERVICE AS PUNISHMENT

The community services can be defined as unpaid work which the person is required to perform
as a punishment for an offence committed under this Act.15 It seems that this provision is inspired
from the Supreme Court judgment in BMW case, State vs. Sanjeev Nanda 16, wherein the
community services were imposed for two years as an alternative punishment.

10
Id. at §134A.
11
Save Line Foundation vs. Union of India, A.I.R. 2016 SC 1617 (India).
12
Supra, Note 1at §8(6).
13
Id. at §136A.
14
Id. at §199A.
15
Id. at cl.4A.
16
State vs. Sanjeev Nanda, (2012) 8 S.C.C. 450 (India).

5
LIMIT ON INSURER’S LIABILITY
As per the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, the liability of the insurer for indemnifying the owner for
the compensation claims for bodily injury or death out of the use of motor vehicles was limited. 17
However, this amendment bill seeks to replace this provision with a new provision, which puts a
limit on the liability to an extent of Rs. 10 lakhs in case of death and Rs. 5 lakhs in case of bodily
injury.

 The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 also proposes the following amendments in
the various penalties:

Section Explanation Old Provision New Provision

177 General Rs.100 Rs.500
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 Unauthorized use of vehicles without licence Rs.1000 Rs.5000
181 Driving without licence Rs.500 Rs.5000
182 Driving despite disqualification Rs.500 Rs.10000
182B Oversize vehicles Rs.5000
183 Over speeding Rs.400 Rs.1000 for
Light Motor
Vehicle
Rs.2000 for
medium
passenger
vehicle
184 Dangerous driving penalty Rs.1000 Upto Rs.5000
185 Drunken driving Rs.2000 Rs.10000
189 Speeding/Racing Rs.500 Rs.5000
17
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, § 147(2)(a).

6
192A Vehicle without permit Upto Rs.500 Upto Rs.10000
193 Aggregators(violations of licensing Rs.25000 to
conditions) Rs.100000
194 Overloading Rs.2000 and Rs. 20000 and
Rs.1000 per Rs. 2000 per
extra tonne extra tonne
194A Overloading of passengers Rs.1000 per
extra passenger
194B Seat belt Rs.100 Rs.1000
194C Overloading of two wheelers Rs.100 Rs.2000,
disqualification
for 3 months
for licence
194D Helmets Rs.100 Rs.1000,
disqualification
for 3 months
for licence
194E Not providing way for emergency vehicles Rs.10000
196 Driving without insurance Rs.1000 Rs.2000
199 Offences by juveniles Guardian/
owner will be
guilty.
Rs.25000 and 3
years of
imprisonment
206 Power of officers to impound documents Suspension of
driving
licences
210B Offense committed by enforcing authorities Twice the
penalty under

7
 the relevant
section

6. DISAPPOINTING FEATURES OF THE

BILL

RECALL OF VEHICLES
One of the highly debated provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2016 is the
proposed insertion of Section 110(A) in the Act. The industry will witness a significant change
with regard to the policy of recall of vehicles through this provision.

The Central Government will be having the power, under this provision, to direct the vehicle
manufacturers to recall their motor vehicles. Such an order will depend on the following
conditions:

 If the vehicle may cause harm

(a) To the Environment
(b) To the driver
(c) To the occupants of the vehicle
(d) Or to the road users.
 The order for the recall can also be made if the defects in the vehicles are reported to the
central government:
(a) By a testing agency
(b) By a certain percentage of the owners
(c) By any other source.

These conditions seem very broad and there is the possibility of abuse of this provision by the
relevant authorities, especially in the light of those strict penalties which were laid down in the
amendment bill.

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LIMITED LIABILITY OF INSURER
The provision which is seeking to introduce limited liability of insurer is regressive in nature and
can cause a lot of hardship to innocent victims. The consequences of this provision will be that
the victims will not be able to realize more than 10 lakhs in case of death and not more than 5
lakhs in case of bodily injury. This provision will definitely frustrate the social welfare intent of
the compulsory third party insurance.

STRINGENT PENALTIES
The stringent penalties which were proposed for various traffic violations and other offences are
noteworthy but it is reckoned that due to inadequate enforcement and corrupt practices, these
penalties might be used as a means of extortion in the hands of unscrupulous authorities.

GREY AREAS WHICH ARE NOT BROUGHT UNDER LEGISLATION

There are certain grey areas which are required to be brought under the ambit of the legislation
such as:

(a) Accountability of Road Contractors and Agencies.

(b) Road Standards.
(c) Traffic Infrastructure.

OVERLAPPING POWERS OF GOVERNMENT

Under the various provisions of the bill, the rule making of the state overlaps with that of the
state at many a places, for instance Section 315A provides that rule making power of the centre
is verbatim same as rule making of state under Section 315B. Such provisions not only create
confusion and chaos but might also dilute the powers and the competence of the states and can
also lead to ambiguity in the implementation of rules under the Act.

NO REDUCTION WAS MADE IN THE BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT LEVEL OF NOVICE DRIVERS
Reducing the blood alcohol content level for the novice drivers can lead to reductions in the
number of crashes involving young people. Also, people should be randomly stopped for testing
sobriety.

9
ISSUE IN MOTOR VEHICLES ACCIDENT FUND
Section 164B seeks to create a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. This fund will be credited with:

(a) A cess or tax as approved by the Central Government.

(b) A grant or loan made by the Central Government.
(c) Any other source as prescribed by the Central Government.

The downfall of the provision is that it imposes a new tax on the public rather than providing for
a provision.

7. SUGGESTI
ONS

FIXING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ROAD DESIGNS

There is no provision for the accountability of road contractors and officials for poor road design
and maintenance. There must be a new section on safe road design engineering and construction
standards. The liability of road contractors, road authorities and its officials must be fixed.
Penalizing the contractors or officials for civil or criminal liabilities for grievous injuries or death
caused because of the poor road design or engineering will help in ensuring a framework for
accountability along with improving the quality of the roads.

LIABILITY OF GOVERNMENT
Moreover, the Government of India also receives funds for improving the quality of the roads
and maintaining them. Therefore, liability should be imposed on the Government as well if the
roads are not properly maintained because bad condition of the roads also contribute to the
accidents.

LICENSING SYSTEM
In the proposed amendments to the Section 9, Section 12, and Section 14, it is suggested that
mandatory training should be provided to all license holders and a competence test should also
take place. It is pertinent to state that the provision of obtaining the learner’s license be further

10
strengthened by adding restricting provisions such as to restrict novice drivers and learners to
drive on the highways at once after their training.

AVOIDING CORRUPTION
Just by imposing the higher amount of penalties will not help in reducing the number of
accidents. This is because of the fact that, in India, there is not only an intense need to promote
deterrence but also to discourage the penalty amount being pocketed by the unscrupulous traffic
policeman. These higher amount of penalties may also result in encouraging corrupt practices.
These penalties might be used as a means of extortion in the hands of unscrupulous authorities.
Further, it will also distract the traffic policeman from their main work of controlling traffic.
Thus, it is suggested that CCTV cameras should be installed at various crossroads to avoid this.

RATIONALIZATION OF PENALTIES
With respect to traffic violations, some of the most developed countries like USA or Australia,
practices a graduate penalty system. Under this system, fines are increased with each repetitive
offence and also on the basis of the severity of the offence with the final penalty be the loss of
the driver’s license. A graduated penalty system will not only help in mitigating the violations
but will also act as a deterrent for the repeat cases of violations.

8. CONCLUS
ION

Thus, we can conclude that the bill seeks to bring some comprehensive changes to the age old
Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The bill is a praiseworthy effort in direction of road safety. Although,
the bill contains several noteworthy provisions but certain provisions like limit on third party
insurance, stringent penalties are backsliding as already discussed. In conclusion, it is evident
that there are several sections of this bill that need to be refined. For the effective enactment of
the bill, there are several provisions which need to be honed and made flexible. The above
analysis presents these areas.

11