Gadkari tables the Motor Vehicles (amendment) Bill in LS

NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, on July 15, tabled the Motor Vehicles (amendment) Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Bill, 1988 to address the issues of third party insurance, regulation of taxi aggregators, licensing and road safety. The amendment bill proposes the development of a National Transportation Policy by the center. The policy would set up guidelines for transportation of goods and passengers. The proposed bill would also reform the third party insurance for motor vehicles, in a bid to simplify the same. It empowers the Centre to prescribe minimum premium and corresponding liability of insurer for such policy. The compensation to accident victims has been raised to five lakh rupees in case of death and Rs 2.5 lakh in case of grievous injury.

Another proposition made in the amendment was the introduction of digitalisation of licensing system to centralise vehicle registration data.

The bill also seeks to amend the existing law to impose penalty on contractors and concessionaires for faulty road design, construction and maintenance. A penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been proposed for the erring contractors.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha and was circulated amongst the MPs last week.