Motor Vehicle Bill: Drunken Driving Fine Will Be Rs. 10000 Soon

The drunken driving fine will be Rs. 10,000 soon

Rajya Sabha today passed one more bill in a slew of bills passed this parliament session. Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill passed with 108 Yes and 13 Nos. It escaped the select committee but has to approve by the President to become law. Once it becomes law, drunken driving will cost a fine of Rs. 10,000 and many fines have been increased ten times of the existing fees.

The journey of the Motor Vehicle bill to be passed in Rajya Sabha:

Initially, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill brought in the Lok Sabha on August 2016. It was passed there, but in the Rajya Sabha, it was sent to the select committee. The select committee did not approve of the bill, and it lapsed in 2019 after the end of the NDA 1 regime. Now again it was passed in Lok Sabha last week, and yesterday it is passed by the Rajya Sabha also.

Nitin Gadkari on the bill:

The Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari speaking on the bill said it would improve road safety, transparent, computerized and facile dealing of citizens with the transport. He also congratulated the Tamil Nadu Government of taking many steps to bring down the road accident deaths by 29 %.

Opposition view on the bill:

Speaking against the bill, B.K.Hariprasad, a senior Congress leader, said it was a defective bill. Amending the 1989 Motor Vehicle Act has many discrepancies. He also complained that the bill passed last week in the Lok Sabha is different from the one in Rajya Sabha. But the ruling party passed the bill without much difficulty.

Eight major takeaways of Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill:

1. Fine on drunken driving is to be increased to Rs. 2000 to 10000

2. Fine for not wearing a helmet to increase from Rs. 100 to Rs.1000

3. Over speed driving, fine is increased to Rs. 5000 from 500

4. A fine of Rs. 10,000 and imprisonment up to 6 months if you are not giving way for ambulance and fire fighting vehicles

5. Fine for hit and run cases has been increased from 25,000 to 2,00,000 rupees and for causing grievous injury from 12,500 to 50,000 rupees

6. Free treatment at the golden hour for accident victims across India which will be crucial to saving lives

7. Good Samaritans will be not harassed for helping accident victims to save lives. They will not be harassed to come to courts and police stations anymore.

8. National register for DL to be created for easy transfer of vehicles and licenses

The fines could reduce accidents and bring in awareness to the citizens and save lives. But the exorbitant fines could also cause a financial burden for them. Anyway, the bill is passed and will be law soon with President approval. Citizens have to be disciplined or face a financial burden.