New motor vehicle rules effective from October 1— Here’s everything you need to know

• The amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 aim to push the digitisation of paperwork and eradicate unnecessary bullying of the drivers.
• The new rules also make provision for drivers to use their smartphones but only for the purpose of navigation.
• Here’s everything you need to know about the recent amendments in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued various amendments in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, which are already in effect from today (October 1). The amendments aim at pushing the digitisation of paperwork.

“Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has recently issued notifications regarding various amendments in Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 requiring the implementation of enforcement, Maintenance of Vehicular Documents and E-Challans through portal w.e.f 1.10.2020 for better monitoring and enforcement of MV Rules,” MoRTH said in a statement earlier.


These are the five recent amendments in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 that you need to know about:

• No physical verification of documents such as a driving licence, registration certificate (RC), insurance, fitness, permit, and the driving licence certificate for Pollution Under Check (PUC) that are validated electronically can be demanded for physical inspection by the authorities. Only a valid soft copy of these documents attached to the vehicle will do. Along with this e-challans will also be made available on the central portal for the perusal of the traffic norms violators.
• Motor vehicle owners can maintain their documents, including driving licence and RC on the government’s M-Parivahan app or Digi-locker. These apps are on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
• Seizure or disqualification of any documents of the driver in case of violations of traffic rules will be recorded and updated chronologically on the online portal.
• The use of any handheld devices like mobile phones while driving shall solely be used for route navigation purposes only and in such cases it shall not disturb the concentration of the driver.
• The record of the rule violators will be maintained on a government portal. Time-stamp of the inspection and identity of the officer on duty will be recorded on the platform as well. This aims at eradicating unwarranted bullying of drivers and avoiding re-checking or inspection of vehicles.

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