Centre aims to amend Motor Vehicle Act in Parliament's winter session

“A multi-model transport system on parity with international standards and sensitive to the safety of users is the need of the hour”, said Minister of Road Transport & Highways , Nitin Gadkari, while addressing the 15th Meeting of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) and 36th Meeting of the Transport Development Council, here today.  

 

The Road Transport & Safety Bill, 2014, an update on Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, is an initiative in this direction, the Minister added.  The Bill is proposed to be presented in the forthcoming winter session of the Parliament.

 

Highlighting the salient features of the Road Transport & Safety Bill 2014, the Minister said, “the Bill provides for a Unified Driver Licensing System across the country, automated testing to eliminate human bias in testing, a Unified Vehicle Registration System in India linked with insurance, vehicle offences and fitness, electronic and online submission of application for registration and development of an electronic platform to ensure collection, distribution and reconciliation of revenue between the various states in a seamless manner to remove the inconvenience the taxpayer faces today”.  

 

The Minister reiterated his ministry’s commitment to promote the use of alternative fuel so that the import bill of  traditional fuel could be brought under control and an eco-friendly transport system could be evolved.  

 

Referring to efforts to minimize the number of road accidents in the country, he said that expert committees are to be formed to identify the spots of accidents and causes of accidents like curves, trees etc. have to be removed.  

 

The Minister also mentioned the proposal for the formation of bus ports with the same modern facilities as those available at airports and the establishment of Drivers club for truck drivers on National Highways. 

 

In order to improve the enforcement of traffic regulations, cities with population of over 10 lakh will be equipped with automated traffic law enforcement systems, comprising of CCTV cameras, speed cameras and e-challan systems.  

 

Monetary penalties in the 1988 Act have been updated and they have also been supplemented with the provision of refresher trainings for certain offences and repeat offenders.

 

Speaking  on  the  occasion,  Minister  of  State   for  Road  Transport  &  Highways,  Krishan Pal said that the Radio Frequency based Identification technology for electronic toll collection would be used as standard for vehicle identification at the toll plazas and check-posts.  

 

This will pave the way for smooth vehicle movement, eliminate overloading and a convenient system for payment of tolls and taxes.  He also highlighted measures to provide safe and secure transport system to women by setting up an integrated system at the national and state levels.  

 

This would include installation of GPS-based, on board vehicle security and tracking system with emergency buttons, video recording cameras etc.

 

Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Vijay Chibber, in his introductory remarks, underlined the ministry’s initiatives to provide basic facilities to road users under the `Swachch Bharat Mission’.  

 

He further said that recognizing the need to facilitate seamless movement of tourist buses across the states on payment of an annual consolidated fee in lieu of taxes or fees being levied by the State Governments/Union Territories, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways proposes to introduce a system for an `All India Permit for Tourist Buses’.  The rates would be as follows:

 

•           Rs.50,000/- for ordinary tourist buses,

 

•           Rs.75,000/- for luxury tourist buses and

 

•           Rs.1,00,000/- for super luxury tourist buses

 

During the joint meeting, it was also decided that concerned State Governments / UTs will take steps required on their part for timely implementation of the Scheme for Security for Women in Public Road Transport in the Country. 

 

The City Command and Control centres will provide a infrastructure to the State Transport and Police department to enforce the permit and movement regulations in the public transport vehicles through IT based platform. 

 

It will also provide emergency buttons and GPS based tracking of all transport vehicles. The software platform for permit will reduce the time required for getting a valid permit for the vehicle owners and the drivers of such vehicles.

 

The State Governments/UTs agreed on the proposed scheme for development of Large Bus Terminals. These being viable projects as implemented in many states, are targeted for providing better amenities to the passengers in transit. 

 

They will also try to integrate the passenger facilities and movement between various modes of transport like the Road-Train-Metro etc. Government of India will fund a large part of the expenditure towards project preparation and management consultancy.

 

The Joint meeting was attended by Ministers of Transport, Principal Secretaries, Transport Secretaries and Transport Commissioners of various State Governments and Union Territories along with the representatives of Police, transport sector and other stakeholders.