The country may have an entirely new-look Motor Vehicles Act in place if the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday gets the nod in the Upper House as well. The government has expressed its desire to make qualitative changes to the way the road use ecosystem functions. Among the highlights of the proposed changes are stiffer penalties for offences like drunken driving, higher compensation for road accident victims and lesser human interaction at the licence issuing stages to weed out corruption.
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was piloted in the House by the Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadhkari. The minister assured the state governments that the Centre will not trample upon their rights in evolving a holistic road transport policy that can be implemented across the country.
Here are 10 things to know:
The bill now needs to go through the Rajya Sabha where the government does not enjoy a direct majority and some manoeuvring may be required to make this bill into a law.