Most of the changes suggested by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Motor Vehicles Act Amendments Bill had been overlooked when it was tabled for approval again.
Under the existing Act, the third party insurer's liability for motor vehicle accidents is unlimited. The Bill, however, caps the maximum liability for third party insurance in case of death at Rs 10 lakh and at Rs 5 lakh in case of grievous injury caused by a motor accident. The Bill has also not considered circumstances where the parties involved may approach the court. If the court were to award a compensation higher than the prescribed cap, who will have to pay the balance?
The Bill will create a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund through which a compulsory insurance cover will be provided to all road users in India for certain types of accidents. However, a Solatium Fund already exists for compensating hit-and-run victims. What will happen to the existing fund is unclear.
One of the objections to the amendments in the Motor vehicles act bill is this : Clause 44 of the Bill sought to pass on the powers of registration of vehicle from the Regional Transport Office to private dealers. One MP said that while charges by RTO were anything between Rs 400-700, the dealers would charge anything between Rs 9,000 and Rs 15,000. However, a Hindu editorial said that it was an effort to curb institutionalised corruption at Regional Transport Offices by making it possible for dealers to directly register new vehicles.
The proposed insertion of Section 88A in the Act is also a bone of contention. This new provision empowers the Central Government to make schemes for national, multi-modal and inter-state transportation of goods or passengers. As per the present Act, the power to make scheme for inter-state transportation of goods or passengers is an exclusive domain of the states.
In the matter of issuance of contract carriage permits under Section 74, the amendment provides that the Regional Transport Authority may waive any of the statutory conditions in the interest of last mile connectivity in respect of type of vehicles specified by the Central Government. "Last mile connectivity" being a regional issue, States have wondered as to how Central Government can specify conditions regarding it.
Another bone of contention is the proposed insertion of Section 66A which empowers the Central Government to develop a "National Transportation Policy", for establishing a framework for grant of transport permits. The Section directs the Central Government to consult the State Governments before formulation of policy. However, that has not allayed the apprehensions of States regarding erosion of their power to decide on matters of permit, which is their exclusive domain as per the current Section 66. There is a demand to amend "consultation" as "concurrence" in Section 66A.
Minimum educational requirement for obtaining transport license has been done away with. Currently, Class VIII is the minimum educational requirement for transport license. The wisdom behind this move has been questioned, as transport license is used for driving heavy motor vehicles like trucks, buses etc, which have more potential for accidents.
Many civil society members and experts in the field of road safety are unhappy with the Bill, as it does not effectively address concerns over road safety. The "Road Safety Board" proposed by the Bill has only advisory powers. It is felt that India is in need of a separate "Road Safety Bill" to address concerns relating to road engineering and vehicle designs. Studies in the filed carried out by experts point out that major contributory factors for most accidents are inherent faults in road engineering and vehicle designs, rather than driver negligence.
The Road Safety Board proposed by the Amendment is an authority under the Government which lacks powers and autonomy.It is also felt that the proposal in the Amendment to enhance the penalties for traffic violations may not lead to desired results, unless root issues are addressed.
An amendment to Section 166 states that the claim petition has to be filed within six months of the date of accident. In the original Act passed in 1988, there was a similar provision. But the said provision fixing time limit was deleted as per 1994 amendment. Therefore, a claim could have been filed at any time, without any limitation. Now, that provision has been brought back. Significantly, the provision does not enable the tribunal to entertain belated application on any ground. It is settled law that a tribunal does not have the power to condone delay unless the Act specifically confers such power. Therefore, even if there are justifiable grounds for delay, the tribunal will be powerless to entertain the claim by condoning delay.
Many other provisions have been introduced which dilute the claims by claimants.
Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU, says the proposed Bill, if enacted will pave the way for destruction of state-owned public transport corporations, wherever it is there. It will expedite the process of complete privatization of public transport system and take-over of them by big private corporates leading to monopolization and enhancement of the public transport fares to the detriment interest of the common working people.
The original proposed bill had come under severe criticism in 2015 itself. Those opposing included Transport Workers Unions, Associations comprising of small and medium scale vehicle maintenance shops and public sector unions. These agencies say that the real intention of the bill is to privatize public transport, destroy small scale enterprises in favor of big businesses, privatize the licensing services provided by the state.
General Secretary of Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation Transport Workers Union had said that the goal of this Act is to facilitate corporate takeover of various aspects of the Motor Vehicle industry. The goal is to purge all small businesses allied to motor vehicles and to destroy public transportation.
Tamil Nadu state has declared certain regions as ‘monopoly areas’ where only government agencies can operate public buses – these are metropolitan areas of Chennai city, Kanyakumari district and Nilagiri district . The new Bill will remove these monopolies.
Anybody, including Government bodies, seeking to run public buses will have to get a permit from a ‘National Authority’. All authority regarding granting permits, licences, imposing fines etc. will be vested with the National Authority. Jurisdiction over motor vehicles is in the concurrent list, which means that both the central and state governments can make laws on the subject. But through this Bill,all the rights which the state governments had in the matter of transportation will be taken away. These rights will be taken from the state government by the Central government and given to the National Authority.
The Tamil Nadu state government earns 14000 crore rupees annually from motor vehicle taxes and fees, which will be lost under the new Act.
The General Secretary said that th Act will destroy public transportation as we know it. Private businesses will not run public transport under the current terms and conditions. 30 lakh students travel for free on buses(by State Government Scheme). The new Act will severely limit transportation available for the poor and working class. In rural areas, students travel to schools and colleges that are far from their villages. Under the new system, they might have to pay at least 40 rupees a day to go to school, which they will not be able to afford. As a result they may be forced to stop going to school.
Another change this Bill makes is to eliminate the position of ‘conductor’ in buses. On being questioned about this change, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari responded that there were no conductors in foreign countries like Singapore and US. But we all know that in Indian conditions, one does need conductors. Even with a conductor in a bus, people have to be asked ten times to buy their ticket. Will the same people now put their fare in a box on their own and pick up their ticket? Further, lakhs of conductors will lose their jobs. Has any arangement for alternate employment been made for them?
This Bill will shut shop of all motor vehicle mechanics and small spare parts manufacturers. This is because the Bill mandates that vehicles can only be repaired in repair shops run by the manufacturer of the vehicle.
If the government wants to increase fines and punishments for traffic violations, that can be done within the framework of the 1980 Act. Instead, that Act is being overturned.
Crores of people will be affected by this Bill, not just \mechanics. If you consider an auto rickshaw, people working on various parts of it, like painters, welders etc will also be affected. What alternate employment does the government envisage for them?
After running for a prescribed number of years, under the new Act, a vehicle is supposed to be ‘condemned’ and can not be used any more. Today, 60% of the public buses on our roads are those that would be called condemned buses under the new Act. If this Bill becomes law, these 60% buses will have to be scrapped.
But in our current reality, we can not afford to scrap those buses, because we do not have money to buy new buses. So, we are managing by repairing and patching up the existing buses. The transport corporations are in a tough situation financially. They have to provide free passes to students, whose cost has amounted to 6000 crore rupees. If the government gave the transport corporation this amount, maybe we could use that to buy buses. The corporation has to spend on retirement benefits (PF, garatuity) for its employees, and that amount is 4000-5000 crore rupees. Today, workers have to wait for as much as 2 years after retirement to get their PF. In such a financial situation, how can we buy new buses?
It will be impossible for state transport corporations to operate under the proposed new regime. If the corporation loses out to private players, the common citizen and workers will lose. The private players will not run buses at the rates we have today.
Another group that will be affected is drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxis. Unlike today, drivers would not be able to operate their own auto-rickshaws or taxis. Under the new Bill, taxis and autos can only be operated as part of a bigger business.
The policies of globalization are those preferring the biggest businesses and corporations of the world. And Modi is in a hurry to implement those policies. In realities, these policies are meant to defraud the people of this country. Big investors come to our country and use our land, our energy resources, our water and so on, and earn thousands of crores of rupees of profit. But when their period of high earning runs out, they leave, even defaulting on tax payments to the government. They leave in search of places which offer them even better deals. The state endlessly offers concessions to these big businesses, who earn profits and then leave squeezing out all they can earn. The new Bill seeks to reproduce this phenomena in the auto work and public transportation sectors.
The same points are repeated against the motor vehicles act amendments in 2018 in this article.
Under the existing Act, the third party insurer's liability for motor vehicle accidents is unlimited. The Bill, however, caps the maximum liability for third party insurance in case of death at Rs 10 lakh and at Rs 5 lakh in case of grievous injury caused by a motor accident. The Bill has also not considered circumstances where the parties involved may approach the court. If the court were to award a compensation higher than the prescribed cap, who will have to pay the balance?
The Bill will create a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund through which a compulsory insurance cover will be provided to all road users in India for certain types of accidents. However, a Solatium Fund already exists for compensating hit-and-run victims. What will happen to the existing fund is unclear.
One of the objections to the amendments in the Motor vehicles act bill is this : Clause 44 of the Bill sought to pass on the powers of registration of vehicle from the Regional Transport Office to private dealers. One MP said that while charges by RTO were anything between Rs 400-700, the dealers would charge anything between Rs 9,000 and Rs 15,000. However, a Hindu editorial said that it was an effort to curb institutionalised corruption at Regional Transport Offices by making it possible for dealers to directly register new vehicles.
The proposed insertion of Section 88A in the Act is also a bone of contention. This new provision empowers the Central Government to make schemes for national, multi-modal and inter-state transportation of goods or passengers. As per the present Act, the power to make scheme for inter-state transportation of goods or passengers is an exclusive domain of the states.
In the matter of issuance of contract carriage permits under Section 74, the amendment provides that the Regional Transport Authority may waive any of the statutory conditions in the interest of last mile connectivity in respect of type of vehicles specified by the Central Government. "Last mile connectivity" being a regional issue, States have wondered as to how Central Government can specify conditions regarding it.
Another bone of contention is the proposed insertion of Section 66A which empowers the Central Government to develop a "National Transportation Policy", for establishing a framework for grant of transport permits. The Section directs the Central Government to consult the State Governments before formulation of policy. However, that has not allayed the apprehensions of States regarding erosion of their power to decide on matters of permit, which is their exclusive domain as per the current Section 66. There is a demand to amend "consultation" as "concurrence" in Section 66A.
Minimum educational requirement for obtaining transport license has been done away with. Currently, Class VIII is the minimum educational requirement for transport license. The wisdom behind this move has been questioned, as transport license is used for driving heavy motor vehicles like trucks, buses etc, which have more potential for accidents.
Many civil society members and experts in the field of road safety are unhappy with the Bill, as it does not effectively address concerns over road safety. The "Road Safety Board" proposed by the Bill has only advisory powers. It is felt that India is in need of a separate "Road Safety Bill" to address concerns relating to road engineering and vehicle designs. Studies in the filed carried out by experts point out that major contributory factors for most accidents are inherent faults in road engineering and vehicle designs, rather than driver negligence.
The Road Safety Board proposed by the Amendment is an authority under the Government which lacks powers and autonomy.It is also felt that the proposal in the Amendment to enhance the penalties for traffic violations may not lead to desired results, unless root issues are addressed.
An amendment to Section 166 states that the claim petition has to be filed within six months of the date of accident. In the original Act passed in 1988, there was a similar provision. But the said provision fixing time limit was deleted as per 1994 amendment. Therefore, a claim could have been filed at any time, without any limitation. Now, that provision has been brought back. Significantly, the provision does not enable the tribunal to entertain belated application on any ground. It is settled law that a tribunal does not have the power to condone delay unless the Act specifically confers such power. Therefore, even if there are justifiable grounds for delay, the tribunal will be powerless to entertain the claim by condoning delay.
Many other provisions have been introduced which dilute the claims by claimants.
Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU, says the proposed Bill, if enacted will pave the way for destruction of state-owned public transport corporations, wherever it is there. It will expedite the process of complete privatization of public transport system and take-over of them by big private corporates leading to monopolization and enhancement of the public transport fares to the detriment interest of the common working people.
The original proposed bill had come under severe criticism in 2015 itself. Those opposing included Transport Workers Unions, Associations comprising of small and medium scale vehicle maintenance shops and public sector unions. These agencies say that the real intention of the bill is to privatize public transport, destroy small scale enterprises in favor of big businesses, privatize the licensing services provided by the state.
General Secretary of Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation Transport Workers Union had said that the goal of this Act is to facilitate corporate takeover of various aspects of the Motor Vehicle industry. The goal is to purge all small businesses allied to motor vehicles and to destroy public transportation.
Tamil Nadu state has declared certain regions as ‘monopoly areas’ where only government agencies can operate public buses – these are metropolitan areas of Chennai city, Kanyakumari district and Nilagiri district . The new Bill will remove these monopolies.
Anybody, including Government bodies, seeking to run public buses will have to get a permit from a ‘National Authority’. All authority regarding granting permits, licences, imposing fines etc. will be vested with the National Authority. Jurisdiction over motor vehicles is in the concurrent list, which means that both the central and state governments can make laws on the subject. But through this Bill,all the rights which the state governments had in the matter of transportation will be taken away. These rights will be taken from the state government by the Central government and given to the National Authority.
The Tamil Nadu state government earns 14000 crore rupees annually from motor vehicle taxes and fees, which will be lost under the new Act.
The General Secretary said that th Act will destroy public transportation as we know it. Private businesses will not run public transport under the current terms and conditions. 30 lakh students travel for free on buses(by State Government Scheme). The new Act will severely limit transportation available for the poor and working class. In rural areas, students travel to schools and colleges that are far from their villages. Under the new system, they might have to pay at least 40 rupees a day to go to school, which they will not be able to afford. As a result they may be forced to stop going to school.
Another change this Bill makes is to eliminate the position of ‘conductor’ in buses. On being questioned about this change, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari responded that there were no conductors in foreign countries like Singapore and US. But we all know that in Indian conditions, one does need conductors. Even with a conductor in a bus, people have to be asked ten times to buy their ticket. Will the same people now put their fare in a box on their own and pick up their ticket? Further, lakhs of conductors will lose their jobs. Has any arangement for alternate employment been made for them?
This Bill will shut shop of all motor vehicle mechanics and small spare parts manufacturers. This is because the Bill mandates that vehicles can only be repaired in repair shops run by the manufacturer of the vehicle.
If the government wants to increase fines and punishments for traffic violations, that can be done within the framework of the 1980 Act. Instead, that Act is being overturned.
Crores of people will be affected by this Bill, not just \mechanics. If you consider an auto rickshaw, people working on various parts of it, like painters, welders etc will also be affected. What alternate employment does the government envisage for them?
After running for a prescribed number of years, under the new Act, a vehicle is supposed to be ‘condemned’ and can not be used any more. Today, 60% of the public buses on our roads are those that would be called condemned buses under the new Act. If this Bill becomes law, these 60% buses will have to be scrapped.
But in our current reality, we can not afford to scrap those buses, because we do not have money to buy new buses. So, we are managing by repairing and patching up the existing buses. The transport corporations are in a tough situation financially. They have to provide free passes to students, whose cost has amounted to 6000 crore rupees. If the government gave the transport corporation this amount, maybe we could use that to buy buses. The corporation has to spend on retirement benefits (PF, garatuity) for its employees, and that amount is 4000-5000 crore rupees. Today, workers have to wait for as much as 2 years after retirement to get their PF. In such a financial situation, how can we buy new buses?
It will be impossible for state transport corporations to operate under the proposed new regime. If the corporation loses out to private players, the common citizen and workers will lose. The private players will not run buses at the rates we have today.
Another group that will be affected is drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxis. Unlike today, drivers would not be able to operate their own auto-rickshaws or taxis. Under the new Bill, taxis and autos can only be operated as part of a bigger business.
The policies of globalization are those preferring the biggest businesses and corporations of the world. And Modi is in a hurry to implement those policies. In realities, these policies are meant to defraud the people of this country. Big investors come to our country and use our land, our energy resources, our water and so on, and earn thousands of crores of rupees of profit. But when their period of high earning runs out, they leave, even defaulting on tax payments to the government. They leave in search of places which offer them even better deals. The state endlessly offers concessions to these big businesses, who earn profits and then leave squeezing out all they can earn. The new Bill seeks to reproduce this phenomena in the auto work and public transportation sectors.
The same points are repeated against the motor vehicles act amendments in 2018 in this article.
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