Reports have it that the Carriage by Road Act-2007 remains a non-starter thanks to the communication gap between the Centre and the State Governments, with the authorities concerned at the States reportedly claiming to be in the dark about the provisions of the Act.

The Act requires, among other things, that every common carrier and its agents and transport intermediaries be registered with the regional transport authority in the respective State to be permitted to transport goods by road.

What the reports do not explain is the tremendous influence these common carriers and their agents wield on the powers-that-be, so much so they have the temerity not only to flout with impunity the provisions of an Act passed by Parliament but also to proclaim loudly that they will not abide by the provisions. And they get away with it.

Over a decade ago, the Union Government, on realising the inadequacy of the Carriers Act-1865 to meet the present-day requirements of trade and industry, decided to take a fresh look at the Act. The Carriers Act-1865 had defined the relationship between common carriers and transport intermediaries and the consignors. After a good deal of deliberation over several years, the Government succeeded in enacting a new law, namely the Carriage by Road Act, in September 2007.

Working group

A working group was constituted in November 2007 under the then Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to finalise the rules to facilitate implementation of the Act. The first meeting of the working group was held in December 2007 and the final meeting in February 2009. The rules were notified on February 28, 2011, or roughly three and half years after the enactment of the Act. The Carriage by Road Rules mandated compulsory registration of all common carriers and transport intermediaries within 90 days — by May 31, 2011. The response to Government notification being virtually zero, the deadline was extended by three months, till August 31, with the stipulation that the consignment note or lorry receipt issued by the common carriers or intermediaries must carry the registration number. Otherwise the parties concerned will “cease to operate in the business of booking, forwarding and delivering of goods, packets or cargo”.

In other words, after August 31, non-registered transport contractors, common carriers or goods transport agents have, strictly speaking, become illegal entities; and booking and delivery of cargo by these entities leave consignors with no remedy to claim compensation in case of damage or loss of the consignment in transit. But nothing has happened. The Government's objectives may be pious, as is evident from the enactment of the law; but when it comes to implementation, the initiative leaves much to be desired.

There is another point. With the provisions of the Carriage by Road Act-2007 and Carriage by Road Rules-2011 coming into force, the responsibility of the consignors also increases.

New tenders

Corporate houses and PSUs will have to rework the tender documents in regard to transportation of goods by road and transport contracts with the transport contractors and common carriers. Utmost care has to be taken with regard to signing of the contracts. As a study by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training emphasises, the relevant provisions of the Carriage by Road Act and Carriage by Road Rules must be adhered to and incorporated in a tender.

Sections 11 and 12 of the Act also specify the liability of the common carriers in the event of loss or damage to the consignments in transit. However, most consignors are not aware of all this.

Vulnerable

The Ministry of Road Transport plays coy when it comes to implementation of the provisions of the Act and the Rules.

As the situation stands now, the individual vehicle owners have become most vulnerable. As the All-India Goods Vehicle Owners' Association points out, over 2.5 lakh vehicle owners, even as they ferry billions of rupees worth of goods across the country, remain oblivious of their liability resulting from any lapse on the part the transport agents and other intermediaries who refuse to get themselves registered under the Act.

The proclaimed offenders of the law know only too well that they have nothing to worry about, as long as they are on the ‘right side' of power, even if they're on the wrong side of the law.

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