Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act were passed by the Parliament recently but most have come into effect from September 1, 2019. This means that driving errors are going to make a huge dent in your monthly budget and some of them may cost you the same or more than your monthly fuel bill.
The transport ministry issued a notification on August 28, 2019 listing out all the laws that have come into effect from September 1, 2019.
Here is the list of the important new motor vehicle laws
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Enhancement of penalties
The new Motor Vehicles Act has enhanced the penalties for driving errors. According to the transport ministry’s press release explaining the summary of changes in the Motor Vehicle Act, it has enhanced “penalty for offences where no penalty is specifically provided for- first offence from up to Rs 100 to Rs 500 and second/subsequent offence from up to Rs 300
Driving an uninsured vehicle can actually land you in jail from September 1. According the new Motor Vehicles Act, you can be penalised an amount of Rs 2,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 3 months for the first time you are caught driving an uninsured vehicle. For the second offense, a fine of Rs 4,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 3 months.
You will have to pay penalty of Rs 5,000 in case you are caught driving without licence. The penalty in these cases has been enhanced by 10 times.
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Expiry of driving licence
As per the new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, an individual can apply for renewal of driving licence any time between one year before its expiry and up to one after its expiry. This would mean that if your driving licence is expiring in October 2020, then you can apply for renewal from October 2019 till October 2021.
However, if you apply for renewal after one year of expiry of licence then you will be required to undertake the driving licence test once again.
A list of some of the new fines are below:
|
Section under 1988 Act |
Description |
Old penalty/provision |
New penalty/provision |
|
181 |
Driving without license |
Rs 500 |
Rs 5,000 |
|
182 |
Driving despite disqualification |
Rs 500 |
Rs 10,000 |
|
183 |
Over speeding |
Rs 400 |
Rs 1,000-2,000 (light motor vehicle) Rs 2,000-4,000 (medium passenger vehicle) |
|
184 |
Dangerous driving |
Rs 1,000 |
Imprisonment of 6 months-1 year and/or fine of Rs 1,000-5,000 for first offence. Imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for second offence. |
|
185 |
Drunk driving |
Rs 2,000 |
Imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for first offence. Imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine of Rs 15,000 for second offence. |
|
189 |
Racing |
Rs 500 |
Imprisonment of up to 1 month and/or fine up to Rs 500 for first offence. Imprisonment up to 1month and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for second offence. |
|
194A |
Overloading |
|
Rs 1,000 per extra passenger |
|
194B |
No seatbelt |
Rs 100 |
Rs 1,000 |
|
194C |
Overloading two-wheeler |
Rs 100 |
Rs 2,000; license disqualification for 3 months |
|
194D |
No helmet |
Rs 100 |
Rs 1000; license disqualification for 3 months |
|
194E |
Not providing way to emergency vehicle |
|
Rs 10,000 |
|
196 |
Driving without insurance |
Rs 1,000 |
Rs 1,000-2,000 and/or punishment up to 3 months for first offence. Rs 4000 and/or imprisonment up to 3 months for second offence |
|
198 |
Failure to comply with standards for road design, construction and maintenance |
Up to Rs 1 lakh |
|
|
199 |
Offences by juveniles |
|
Guardian/vehicle owner deemed guilty – Rs 25,000 with 3 years imprisonment. Vehicle registration cancelled for 12 months. Juvenile ineligible to obtain license until the age of 25 years. |
|
210B |
Offenses committed by enforcing agencies |
|
Double of applicable penalty |
Thanks for sharing all the latest changes. Every useful information