Previous Acts

Motor Vehicles Act,1988

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 came into force from 1 July 1989. It replaced Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 which earlier replaced the first such enactment Motor Vehicles Act, 1914. The Act provides in detail the legislative provisions regarding licensing of drivers/conductors, registration of motor vehicles, control of motor vehicles through permits, special provisions relating to state transport undertakings, traffic regulation, insurance, liability, offences and penalties, etc.^[7] For exercising the legislative provisions of the Act, the Government of India made the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.^[8]

The Road Transport And Safety Bill

The Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 envisioned providing a framework for safer, faster, cost-effective and inclusive movement of passengers and freight in India, thus enabling the mission of 'Make In India' following the death of the union minister Gopinath Munde in 2014.

The bill proposed to set up the Motor Vehicle Regulation & Road Safety Authority of India, an independent agency for vehicle regulation and road safety which would be legally empowered and accountable to Parliament.^[10]

Later due to controversies listed down in the controversies section, The bill was subsequently replaced by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

Indian Motor Vehicles (Amendment) bill, 2017

A significant upgrade to the motor vehicle laws, it envisaged body cams on traffic cops and RTO officials to check corruption, 7-year imprisonment instead of current 2 years for drink-driving deaths, mandatory 3rd party insurance for all vehicles, and stiffer penalties for traffic violations to reduce the accident rates.^[11] The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in April 2017 and sent to the Rajya Sabha, which referred it to a select committee in August 2017.^[12] The bill was again scrutinized by a joint standing committee composed of Transport ministers of 18 states of India.

Due to frequent disruptions in Rajya Sabha and lack of support from Indian National Congress, the bill failed to turn into act and lapsed after the conclusion of interim budget session and on the account of general elections.^[13]

Indian Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019

This is similar to the Indian Motor Vehicles (Amendment) bill, 2017, although, introduced later in 2019 so the name. The earlier bill has lapsed at the end of the last session of 16th Lok Sabha. The bill was re-introduced in the first session of 17th Lok Sabha by union transport minister Nitin Gadkari which is then passed by both the houses before the end of the session. It came in to force on 1 September 2019, providing higher penalties for traffic offences.^[14]

Limited Provisions for Non-Motorized Vehicles

The Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 implemented harsher penalties on motor vehicles for traffic violations. This led to an increase in sale and use of non-motorized forms of transport, such as bicycles, especially for short commutes.^[19] As per the Motor Vehicles Act, bicycles do not require licenses to ride.

The Motor Vehicles Act, however, does not have specific rules and regulations, as well as penalties for bicyclists on certain violations, even though certain guidelines and recommendations exist for bicyclists to follow traffic signs. Due to no penalties, law enforcement in states and cities have made rules on their own, some of which have earned negative reception by bicyclists and transport experts - in 2008, the Kolkata traffic police banned bicycles on major streets, justifying that they cause traffic congestion, due to which traffic cops citywide began penalizing riders or impounding bicycles for refusal to comply; the order was temporarily suspended during the lockdown caused by COVID-19.^[20] Protests took place against such bans, as neither bicycles have caused traffic congestion by traffic experts, nor the ban was approved by the State Government; furthermore, the small slips were issued with Kolkata Police emblem stamped for the fines instead of an authorized Government receipt, which incensed corruption and bribery.^[21][22]

There have also been instances where traffic cops have fined bicyclists for certain offenses, citing the Motor Vehicles Act laws instead of State Police laws.^[23] Furthermore, with no rulebooks or official notifications on violations committed by bicyclists like jumping red lights, abrupt lane changes, haphazard parking, or riding on banned roads within metropolitan and suburban regions, traffic cops have either seized bicycles or deflated tires for deterrence, as well as detained bicyclists, which have attracted criticism and ire of riders. ^[24] Complicating the issues of penalizing riders, were some absurd rules enacted by the authorities, that earned disapproval and widespread condemnation by riders.^[25][26] For serious and extreme offenses such as riding under influence, hit-and-run or performing dangerous stunts, traffic cops have taken action under respective state police laws - the riding under influence will attract a charge for public intoxication, though no provision exists for hit-and-run.^[27][28][29] To curb the menace of performing stunts, the Kolkata traffic police in 2018 began penalizing bicyclists and sought to enhance it from Rs. 100 to 1000, but it was met with resistance, as bicycles are not required to have any license. ^[30]

Due to lack of sufficient infrastructure such as dedicated bicycle tracks or lanes, bicyclists are often at high risk when compared to motorized vehicles, and that there are no legislations to mandate helmets for riders pedaling. Baring a few cities that have bicycle tracks, these dedicated lanes have found limited success because they are mostly in short distances, often built haphazardly, found in disrepair, or occupied by motorists who ride on them. ^[31] Furthermore, with unofficial bans on certain roads, where there are no signages that display no bicycles allowed, traffic cops pull-over bicyclists and penalize them heavily, many of who are daily wage earners, delivery agents, or school-going children, and sometimes even corporate professionals. The Mumbai traffic police enacted ban on two and three wheelers on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the Trans Harbour Link, Eastern Freeway, the BKC-Chunabhatti flyover, and the under construction Coastal Road, but the ban does not explicitly mention bicycles as there are no written warnings or signages. Due to that, unaware bicyclists caught riding on these roads have been penalized Rs. 1200 under Bombay Police Act 1951, or bicycles have been impounded in events of refusal to pay or noncompliance. ^[32] However, an official ban on bicycles has been enacted on expressways nationwide, due to high-speed limits and access control, while riders are allowed to enter on National Highways and main roads of metro cities.^[33]

Due to rising incidents of bicycle fatalities, especially during night time with insufficient lighting on streets, the Supreme Court of India passed an order in December 2022 mandating certified reflectors on bicycles, following which riders and bicycle manufacturers will be subjected to severe penalties.^[34] However, several bicycle manufacturers expressed concerns, as the demand and supply for the reflectors was have been high and only few units could make such reflectors.^[35] While an order was passed for the reflectors in June 2016, the order was deferred by the Supreme Court several times to meet cater the demand.^[36]

Rights for Pedestrians

The Motor Vehicles Act does not provide any rights for safety of pedestrians. As pedestrians have been a significant cause of road crashes, they are still considered as driver error, while pedestrians are rarely found accountable for such crashes. With the absence of jaywalking as an offense in the Motor Vehicles Act, some state police forces have made laws penalizing pedestrians who indulge in jaywalking.^[37] However, this action has earned negative reception, mostly due to lack of pedestrian crossings, like subways, overpasses, or at-grade crossings, considering that most pedestrian crossings are only located at traffic lights.^[38]

2024 protests

In January 2024, protests were organized against new law dealing with the hit-and-run cases in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It has a provision under Section 106 (2), that attracts punishment of up to 10 years for drivers and a fine of ₹7 lakh who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without informing the police or any official from the administration.^[39][40] Large-scale traffic congestion on roads caused by the protests caused inconvenience for citizens in many states, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. In many locations, there were lengthy lines at gas stations as residents hurried to fill up their cars in anticipation of a possible gasoline shortage brought on by the protest.^[41][42]

Approximately 2,000 gas stations, primarily in western and northern India, ran out of fuel during the truckers' associations' strike.^[43] In advance of the truckers' strike, state-owned oil companies topped off tanks at the majority of gas stations nationwide; nonetheless, excessive traffic caused several gas stations in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab to run out of stock, according to industry authorities.^[44][45] On 2 January, Chandigarh imposed restrictions on the sale of petrol and diesel at fuel stations after a strike.^[46] According to Union estimates, there is a $12 million revenue loss daily due to the strike.^[47]

Unsafe Vehicles

The Motor Vehicles Act does not have any regulations on the sales of any vehicles which have been rated as unsafe in crash tests, despite the legislation mandating some bare minimum safety features such as ABS and Airbags. While the implementation of crash testing under Bharat NCAP helps customers know safety ratings, the crash testing has not been made mandatory.^[48] This allows manufacturers to sell cars that have been rated unsafe to customers nationwide, which have been rated poorly in crash tests despite safety features.^[49]