Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill makes space for innovations

Usually regulations struggle to adapt to the rapid changing market scenario. To deal with new technologies such as driverless vehicles, the proposed Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill authorises the government or the Ministry to exempt or waive any section to promote innovation.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The Bill’s provisions talk about improved citizen centric services, lower accidents, with several steps proposed to reduce the footfalls to regional transport offices (RTO).

Incidentally, Singapore has recently introduced a regulatory framework coinciding with the trials of autonomous or driverless vehicles in the city state.

There are proposals to reduce the time taken to get a transport licence, which at present requires at least 15 months. There is a proposal to allow recognised training schools to provide 200 driving hours of training including 15 days’ internship.

Now with a three-month course, a transport driver can get licences. Also earlier, transport licences were valid for three years and those of hazardous goods were valid for one year, after which they had to be renewed. The Bill now proposes to make transport licences valid for a longer period — to five years and three years — after which renewal is required.

Another user-friendly proposal is with regard to renewal of licences. Earlier, the renewal of licences were permitted within a two-month period – one month preceding or one month after the lapse of the licence. The Bill now proposes to increase this period to two years — one year preceding the expiry of the licence and one year after its expiry.

The Bill also proposes to allow online transfer of vehicle registration if the transfers are within one State. This can be done by using Aadhaar for identity authentification, by creating interoperability between State and National database for vehicles.

The Bill enables opening up of last mile connectivity in rural areas, allowing multiple players to offer services. Transport Ministers from 18 States and 10 political parties, worked together in shaping the proposed Bill, Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport Highways, had said after the Cabinet approval.

Meanwhile, Oscar Fernandes, former Minister of Road Transport and Highways, told BuisnessLine that on accident compensation, it would be desirable if the Bill were to provide a clause to foot the entire medical bill instead of fixing a limit. He was speaking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of a conference organised by Consumer Voice.

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