Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha

He said the Bill had provisions for prevention of road accidents and stringent penalty for traffic rule violations and to encourage Good Samaritans. It would help contain traffic violations, like over-speeding and use of mobile phones while driving.

The Minister said 1.5 lakh people perish in nearly 5 lakh accidents in the country every year. Of this, 40 per cent accidents happen on the National Highways.

The Bill provides for regulation of cab aggregators and also issues related to third-party insurance. It has proposed a digitised licensing system to centralise vehicle registration data.

The Bill seeks to amend the law to impose penalty on contractors and concessionaires for faulty road design, construction and maintenance. A penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been proposed for the erring contractors.