Road Transport & Safety Bill in consultation stage: Govt

The Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015 is still in consultation stage and would be considered for introduction in Parliament after suggestions from states and UTs, Parliament was informed today.
"The latest version of the draft Bill has been sent to state governments/union territory administrations for their comments/suggestions. The Bill will be sent to the Cabinet Secretariat for introduction in Parliament as soon as comments/suggestions from state governments/union territory administrations have been received," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways P Radhakrishnan told Rajya Sabha.
He said the Bill inter-alia includes a clause 'Recall of Vehicles', wherein it is proposed that a manufacturer may be directed to recall motor vehicles of a particular type or its variants, if a defect in that particular type of motor vehicle may cause harm to the driver or occupants or road users.

The vehicle can also be recalled in case of "a defect in that particular type of motor vehicle has been reported by such percentage of owners as the central government, may by notification, specify, and such defect may cause harm to the driver or occupants of such motor vehicle or to other road users," he said.
The Bill has been drafted with the objective of having a better implementation tools and procedures, he said.
The Minister in a separate reply added that the Bill incorporated the global best practices and provides for the creation of a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Authority to look after all issues related to vehicle regualtion and road safety.

The new Road Transport and Safety Bill seeks to come down heavily on traffic offenders and proposes steep penalties of up to Rs 3 lakh along with a minimum 7-year imprisonment for death of a child in certain circumstances, besides huge fines for driving violations.
Besides, a heavy penalty for driving related violations, the Bill also proposes a fine of Rs 5 lakh per vehicle and an imprisonment for faulty manufacturing design.
The Bill is also aimed at bringing down fatalities in road accidents by two lakh in the first five years.