Rajya Sabha passes Motor Vehicles Bill; stricter penalties for traffic violation
Not giving way to emergency vehicles to cost Rs. 10,000 penalty
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to tighten road traffic regulations such as issuance of driving licence and imposed stricter penalties for violations in an attempt to improve road safety.
The Upper House passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 with 108 votes in favour and 13 against it, with three amendments moved by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 23 but the bill will be sent to Lok Sabha again because of a typo. Replying to a debate on the bill, Gadkari allayed concerns of states, saying the Centre was not encroaching on any of their rights including the right to levy vehicle registration charge and permit fee, besides posting of officials.
Not a single penny of state revenue would be taken by the Centre, he asserted. Also, the rights of the states to set up driving training institutes too will remain untinkered.
The legislation provides for stricter punishment for various traffic related offences as well as higher penalties, including a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for death and Rs 2.5 lakh for grievous injury in a motor vehicle accident case. Gadkari said the legislation will instil fear of law in people who violate traffic rules as an intelligent traffic system will monitor traffic offences.
The minister said India was facing shortage of 22 to 25 lakh drivers and to fill this gap, driver training institutes were planned pan India and the Centre was ready to provide Rs 1 crore subsidy for each centre. He said such centres were not needed in metropolises like Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai but in remote rural areas to uplift tribals and poor and 1,000 such centres were planned.
The minister also allayed fears of members regarding roping in of corporates, saying no rights were being given to companies and in fact a few firms had come forward with Rs 20-25 crore free-of-charge training centres under CSR.
Gadkari said the process for obtaining driving licenses would now be computerised and anyone, whether a minister or MP, will get licenses only after passing online tests. He said the government has no intention to intervene with the power of states and state transport corporations were free to run their buses.
He advocated the London transport model, stating that many state government undertakings had turned NPAs and the government was also exploring bringing in foreign funds. The minister made it clear that vehicle registration rights remained with the states and asserted that the Centre was not benefitting by even a rupee.
He also stressed on the need to promote electric buses and having a transport policy. He said a 265-seat bus skybus was planned between Dhaula Kuan and Manesar.
The bill proposes a National Transportation Policy for ushering in guidelines on the transportation of goods and passengers. The minister said it will be framed only after holding consultations with the states.
Once the bill becomes a law, the new vehicles will be registered at the dealers level and it will eventually remove buyers' interface with the registration authorities.
The bill, which was pending for approval in the Rajya Sabha, had lapsed after the term of the 16th Lok Sabha ended. It proposes Rs 10,000 fine for not giving way to emergency vehicles and Rs 10,000 for driving despite disqualification. Aggregators violating driving licences will be fined up to Rs 1 lakh. The proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states, which were vetted by a standing committee of Parliament.
The bill includes penalties in the range of Rs 1,000- 2,000 for over-speeding. Driving without insurance will be punishable with Rs 2,000 fine, while driving without helmets will attract Rs 1,000 penalty and 3-month suspension of licence. Also, the guardian/owner will be deemed guilty in case of road offence by juveniles, while registration of the vehicle will be cancelled.
As per the new provisions, "guardian/owner shall be deemed to be guilty and there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 with three years imprisonment and cancellation of registration of the Motor Vehicle".
Traffic violations would now attract a penalty of Rs 500 in place of Rs 100 earlier, while disobedience of orders of authorities will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 2,000 in place of Rs 500 earlier.
Penalty for unauthorised use of vehicles without licence has been proposed at Rs 5,000 while those driving without licence will have to shell out the same amount and those found driving despite disqualification would be fined Rs 10,000.
Penalty for dangerous driving would be increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 1,000, while drunken driving under the proposed new law would attract a fine of Rs 10,000.
"If aggregators are found violating lincensing conditions, they will be charged a sum of up to Rs 1 lakh" while overloading of vehicles would attract a penalty of Rs 20,000.
Earlier participating in the debate, members raised concern over the growing number of road accidents and said that there should be a compensation mechanism for the deceased.
The Congress alleged that the Centre has "hoodwinked" the Rajya Sabha on the bill as it was "defective" and not in the form passed in the Lok Sabha last week.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
