The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by a voice vote.
Several members cutting across party lines supported the safety and traffic violation aspects of the Bill, but said that through the amendment, the Centre was trying to take away the States’ powers with certain provisions of the draft law.
“It is up to the States if they want to make their transport system more modern and efficient. The Centre would not interfere with the States’ working and only facilitate the implementation of the framework such as facilitating availability of foreign funds,” Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said in the House. The Bill seeks to weed out corruption and improve road safety, he said, adding that the government was “fulfilling its promises made on better, smoother roads and latest transport technology”.
“The Bill proposes a National Transportation Policy for ushering in guidelines on the transportation of goods and passengers,” the Minister said. He announced that the Ministry would end the system of road monitoring being undertaken by independent engineers and it would be carried out by an expert company.
Speaking on the way forward, he said that soon two-wheeler taxis would be a reality apart from functional waterways, ropeways, cable cars and skybuses.
“We have also identified 14,000 accident-prone black spots in the country and ₹14,000 crore, raised from the ADB and World Bank, would be invested to rectify them with a view to control road accidents,” Mr. Gadkari said.
Another important feature of the Bill is that new vehicles will be registered at the dealer level and it will eventually remove buyers’ interface with registration authorities.
