Cabinet nod to bring Uber, Ola under Motor Vehicles Act

Uniform licence, vehicle registration process; guardians to be guilty for juvenile violations

Taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola would soon be under the ambit of Motor Vehicles Act, with the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approving a draft law.

According to the draft, violators of licensing rules would be penalised with fines of up to ~1 lakh.

The Bill also provides for a uniform driving licence and vehicle registration processes across various states through the creation of national registers.

Guardians or owners shall be deemed guilty for offences committed by juveniles. These offences would attract a penalty of ~25,000 along with three years imprisonment.

The juvenile would be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act and the registration of vehicle will be cancelled.

The Bill proposes hefty penalties ranging from ~500 to ~1 lakh, an official statement said.  

The Cabinet also approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016, which proposes that state governments can even increase the fine up to 10 times.

Oversized vehicles, currently exempt from any penalty, would be fined ~5,000.

Victims of hit-and-run cases would now be compensated for up to ~10 lakh in case of road accident fatalities.

To improve the registration process for new vehicles, registration at the end of the dealer is being enabled and restrictions have been imposed on temporary registration, the statement said.

The Bill also proposes to mandate automated fitness testing for the transport vehicles with effect from 1 October 2018.

Deliberate violation of safety and environment regulations would also be penalized. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said Parliament may take up the amendments next week. He has also made an appeal to other parties seeking support to provide a safe and public-friendly transport eco-system.