Constitutional
Position of Motor, Vehicles and Roads- The laws related to vehicle
come under concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. When a subject
comes under the concurrent list, the Parliament is authorized to make the rules
defining powers to the States.
What
governs the States and why the new amendments are needed?
1. Improved
road safety, ensure orderly use of vehicles and expand public transport.
2. The
system lacked transparency, and unprofessional behavior remained prevalent.
3. State
run services are not updated either
4. Investments
in urban metro rail systems are also yielding poor results
5. Absence
of last mile connectivity is also a major issue
The
motor Vehicle Amendment Bill 2018 and Problems with the new Amendment
The Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill
was passed in lok Sabha but stuck in to Rajya Sabha. In fact the protest was
also done in some part of the country as there is a level of discomfort due to
following reasons-
1.
Some states are concerned that power will shift
to center that will make centre dominant.
2.
States are also concerned with new
provisions of 66 A and 88A, which empower Centre to form a National
Transportation Policy.
3.
These changes will also enable centrally drafted
schemes to be issues for national, multi modal and interstate movements of
goods and passengers for rural mobility and even last mile connectivity.
4.
States have opposed it in being anti-federal in
nature.
5.
The new bill also takes into accounts to the
taxi aggregators, third party insurance, and computerization of licensing
authorities and so on.
6.
It also provides for a National Road Safety
Board- which will again be dominated by the central government
7.
The bill seeks for taking licensing process
online, due to which RTO office which comes under state may further make states
helpless.
8.
The new rates of fines are imposed, so is the
age for reviving and validity of license.
A way ahead
according to the MVA Bill -
MVA needs to set a bench
mark for the states to perform, which would be a healthy in long run. Well run public bus services with
suitable permit is the need of hour. Introduction of new way of
performing task with updated technology is needed – like having aggregators.
Aggregators- the Bill
defined aggregators as digital intermediaries or a market place for a passenger
to connect with a driver for purpose of transportation which comes till now
under IT act 2000
Vehicle recall- In case of
the defective vehicles the manufacturers have to recall the vehicles and
reimburse all buyers with full cost of vehicles
Road Safety is needed and
the bill supports enough provisions for that.
The effort to curb
institutionalized corruption at Regional Transport Offices by making it
possible for dealers to directly register new vehicles and enabling online
application for driving licenses is welcome.
Conclusion- Passing of the bill remains crucial, and states
should reconsider their decision about the bill.
