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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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
