Once again, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has received Cabinet approval for the long-pending Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2007, on which the Parliamentary Standing Committee had already deliberated in 2008. Even now, it is not clear when the current Bill will reach implementation stage.
Earlier, a Parliamentary Committee had also pulled up the Road Transport Ministry for not implementing the Bill, which had received Cabinet nod before it was presented in 2007.
There is one change though — the proposed traffic violation penalties have widened and have gone up during the period.
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
During the last few years, the 2007 Bill, which has enabling provisions on higher traffic-related penalties, has been pushed to the backburner because certain provisions of the Amendment Bill have been opposed by State Governments and transport companies.
For the commercial road transport sector, the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2007 had suggested an enabling provision to make the common carriers, such as transport agents, accountable for overloading.
At present, only truck drivers are held accountable for overloaded trucks.
“The Bill also had provisions that disallow State Governments from permitting overloaded trucks to pass through the States by paying penalties,” Mr S.P Singh, Fellow, Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training, said.
These proposed amendments were kept on the backburner because, in 2009, the then Road Transport Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, had sought a review of the entire process. The review call was made despite a Cabinet note that had been circulated in February 2009, in effect delaying the process further.
To top it, many traffic violations that provide for higher penalties for repeat offences can be implemented only after there is full digitisation of driving licences as well as vehicle registration.