The Hindu Business Line : Ministry firming rules for commercial road sector

New Delhi, Dec. 12 The commercial road transport sector in the country, which is highly unorganised at present, is likely to witness reforms with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways forming a committee to firm up the rules for the Carriage by Road Act.

The reforms include registration by all players in the industry, mandatory goods forwarding notes between the customers and transporters, amongst others.

The Carriage by Road Act, which has received Presidential assent, is yet to be notified for implementation because specific rules for broad guidelines under the Act are being framed by the Ministry.

The Committee, which had its first meeting last week, has further asked a sub-committee with representation from the Road Transport Ministry, transporters, Finance Ministry, Railways and Law Ministry to recommend the liability that transporters would have in case the goods get lost during transit.

Defining liability

The Act broadly states that the liability on the common carrier in case of loss of goods would be defined — without specifying a limit. At present, insurance firms are usually reluctant to extend cover to transporters.

“Since the insurance firms quote extremely high premiums for extending cover, in the present practice it is usually the customers’ (whose goods are being transported) responsibility to take a transit insurance,” a large road transport player told Business Line when contacted.

Additionally, the sub-committee has been asked to finalise forms, returns and determine fee under various provisions of the Act. The Carriage by Road Act calls for registration of all parties involved in the supply chain of goods transportation on road, apart from a single registration regime.