The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is a historic Step towards making roads safe and saving lakhs of innocent lives, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 9th August, 2016. The Amendment aims to address the issue of road safety and improve the facilitation of the citizens while dealing with transport departments. The important provisions include increase in compensation for Hit & Run cases from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 2 lakhs. It also has provision for payment of compensation upto Rs 10 lakh in road accidents fatalities. The Bill also proposes insertion of 28 new sections.
The amendments mainly focus on issues relating to improving road safety, citizens' facilitation while dealing with the Transport Department. v Strengthening rural transport, last mile connectivity and public transport, automation and computerization and enabling online services. Improving delivery of services to the stakeholders using e-Governance is one of the major focuses of this Bill. Every year 5 lakh road accidents are reported in the country in which 1.5 lakh people lose their lives. Government is committed to reduce the accidents and fatalities by 50% in five years.