4 Recent Changes In Rules Announced By The Transport Ministry

On Friday, the Ministry of Road Transport Highways (MoRTH) announced some changes and proposals for changes to the rules in road transport that will affect vehicle owners as well as cab travellers. As per the ministrys ‘Helmet for riders of Two Wheelers Motor Vehicles (Quality Control ) Order, 2020 all protective helmets for two-wheeler riders have been included under compulsory BIS certification and the publication of the Quality Control Order.This means that as per the latest order, only BIS certified two-wheeler helmets would be manufactured and sold for two-wheeler riders.This ministry said that as per the directions of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety for considering lighter helmets in India suiting the countrys climatic conditions, a committee was formed (including expert doctors from AIIMS and members from BIS) to make a detailed analysis on lighter helmets.As per the recommendations of the Committee, the BIS has revised specifications through which it is expected to make lighter helmets. With good competition in the Indian markets and with numerous helmet manufacturers, now it is expected that the competition would enable for good quality and lighter helmets demand, the statement added.Advertisement MoRTH issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 to regulate shared mobility and reducing traffic congestion and pollution to provide ease of doing business, customer safety and driver welfare.The new guidelines aim to bring app-based vehicle aggregators like Ola, Uber under a regulatory framework that allows the government to protect the employees (drivers), consumers and reduce pollution from their operations.Drivers will not be permitted to work for more than 12 hours in a day and the company is required to provide them with insurance coverage. It also said that drivers will be allowed to keep at least 80% of the ride fare.There are also compliance rules with regard to vehicles.On the consumer front, the government has capped the surge pricing used by the ride-hailing firms that charge customers higher for services during peak demand hours. They can charge a maximum of 1.5 times of the base fare, however, they can also choose to offer their services at 50% of the base fare.Cancellation fee imposed on a rider or driver cannot be more than 10% of the total fare and the fee cannot exceed Rs 100 or $1.35.The vehicle aggregators have been allowed to offer pooling services on private cars, with a daily limit of four intra-city rides on such shared cars, and two weekly inter-city rides. MoRTH has invited suggestions and comments from the public and all stakeholders on the proposal to facilitate the owner of the vehicle for nominating a person in the RC at the time of registration of a vehicle.This would help the motor vehicle to be registered/transferred in the name of the nominee, in case of the death of the owner of the vehicle. The process is otherwise cumbersome and non-uniform across the country, the ministry said.A process was also proposed to transfer the vehicle to the legal heir in case there is no nominee has been specified by the registered owner. The ministry has also sought comments and suggestions in regards to Amendment to CMVR 1989 relating to Vintage Motor Vehicles.It said in a release there are no existing rules for regulating the registration process of vehicles of heritage value and it, therefore, intends to formalize the registration process of the Vintage Motor Vehicles. Vehicles which are two-wheelers and four-wheelers (non-commercial/personal use) and are more than 50 years old from the date of their first registration (including imported vehicle) are proposed to be called as the Vintage Motor Vehicles. The restriction in the definition- no substantial overhaul of the vehicle which includes modification in chassis or body shell, and/or engine. It is proposed that all applications for registration shall be applied on PARIVAHAN portal. All States registering authority will appoint a nodal officer to process all applications, and a committee to inspect and declare if the vehicle is fit for registration. If approved, a 10 digit alphanumeric number will be assigned to the respective Vintage vehicle. This registration shall be valid for 10 years. The format for the registration mark will consist of the letters XX VA YY ****, where VA stands for vintage, XX stands for State code, YY will be a two letter series and **** is a number from 0001 to 9999 allotted by State Registering Authority. Fees for new registration will be Rs 20,000 and subsequent re-registration Rs 5,000. If a vehicle is registered as a Vintage Motor Vehicle, the sale and purchase of the vehicle are allowed under the rules. A Vintage Motor vehicle is allowed to run on Indian roads only for display, technical research or taking part in a vintage car rally, refuelling and maintenance, exhibitions, vintage rallies, to and fro to such exhibition/car rally, it said. The objective is to preserve and promote the heritage of old vehicles in India, the ministry said.