Lok Sabha Question No. 1023 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-05
Subject: Amendment to Motor Vehicles Act
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Raj Kumar Chabbewal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1023

ANSWERED ON 05 TH  February, 2026

Amendment to Motor Vehicles Act

1023. Dr. Raj Kumar Chabbewal:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the Government has proposed amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (c)  the  details  of  the  total  number  of  uninsured  vehicles  plying  on roads in the country, State/UT-wise;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  other  measures  to  ensure safe driving and pedestrian safety in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a)  and  (b)  Yes  Sir.  The  amendments  to  the   Motor  Vehicles  Act, 1988  are under active consideration.

(c) Out of the total active vehicles plying on road, based on validity of fitness  &  registration  status  in  Vahan  as  of  4th  February  2026,  the total number of uninsured vehicles is tabulated below:

| State/UT                 | Count of Uninsured vehicles   |
|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Andaman & Nicobar Island | 32,102                        |
| Andhra Pradesh           | 77,10,411                     |
| Arunachal Pradesh        | 1,55,262                      |
| Assam                    | 22,60,215                     |
| Bihar                    | 60,94,052                     |
| Chandigarh               | 2,19,289                      |
| Chhattisgarh             | 39,77,197                     |
| Delhi                    | 30,36,325                     |
| Goa                      | 3,15,467                      |
| Gujarat                  | 1,03,36,054                   |
| Haryana                  | 41,61,760                     |
| Himachal Pradesh         | 5,27,168                      |
| Jammu and Kashmir        | 6,71,761                      |
| Jharkhand                | 30,95,393                     |
| Karnataka                | 89,18,098                     |
| Kerala                   | 28,55,892                     |
| Ladakh                   | 16,003                        |
| Lakshadweep              | 12,154                        |
| Madhya Pradesh           | 97,40,983                     |
| Maharashtra              | 1,60,40,855                   |
| Manipur                  | 2,56,158                      |
| Meghalaya                | 1,59,707                      |
| Mizoram                  | 1,25,105                      |
| Nagaland                 | 1,18,144                      |
| Odisha                   | 46,48,021                     |
| Puducherry               | 4,20,425                      |
| Punjab                   | 56,54,751                     |
| Rajasthan                | 1,01,06,298                   |
| Sikkim                   | 15,852                        |
| Tamil Nadu               | 1,27,22,515                   |
| Telangana                | 96,791                        |

| Tripura          | 2,06,405     |
|------------------|--------------|
| UT of DNH and DD | 1,06,140     |
| Uttar Pradesh    | 2,10,96,934  |
| Uttarakhand      | 14,51,211    |
| West Bengal      | 57,92,522    |
| Total            | 14,31,53,420 |

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  maximum  number  of  uninsured  vehicles plying on the roads is in 2W category.

(d) and (e) The Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based  on 4Es' i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Various initiatives undertaken are detailed in Annexure.

Further, the Government in Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is primarily  responsible  for development,  operation  and  maintenance  of National  Highways  (NHs).  Comprehensive  guidelines  already  exist  in the form of IRC:103-2022 'Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities' which caters for the needs of pedestrian safety. In order to ensure the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and non-motorised users, pedestrian underpasses,  footpaths,  foot-over  bridges,  pedestrian  crossings,  are provided based  on  detailed  surveys  and  site  requirements  as  per Indian Road Congress (IRC) codal provisions/guidelines and specifications for Road and Bridge Works. Further, road safety audit is conducted on all National Highways at various stages on new National Highway  projects  as  well  as  on  existing  NHs  for  ensuring  safety  of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. The  provisions of aforementioned  guidelines  are  implemented  based  on  road  safety audits and site requirements.

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  and  (e)  OF  LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1023 ANSWERED  ON  05 TH FEBRUARY, 2026.

Details  of  various  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  in  Ministry  of Road Transport and Highways for road safety:

- (1)        Education:
- i.         Administers  a  scheme  for  setting  up  of  Institutes  of  Driving Training & Research (IDTRs), Regional Driving Training Centres (RDTCs)  and  Driving  Training  Centres  (DTCs)  at  State/district  level across  the  country.  Recently  revised  scheme  guidelines  have  been issued,  incorporating  enhanced  financial  assistance  and  streamlined eligibility criteria for establishing Driving Training Institutes. Additionally, incentives have been introduced for setting up Automated Testing Stations (ATS) in conjunction with Driving Training Institutes (DTIs) under the Training-Testing Cluster approach.
- ii. Administers Road Safety Advocacy Scheme for raising awareness  about  road  safety  and  for administering road safety programs.
- iii.       Observance  of  National  Road  Safety  Month  every  year  for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety.
- (2)     Engineering:
6. 2.1.    Road engineering:
- i.        Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc.
- ii.     High  priority  is  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of black spots /accident spots on NHs.
- iii.      Road Safety Officer (RSO) has been designated at each Regional Office  of  road  owning  agencies   to  look  after  RSA  and  other  road safety related works.
- iv.       Administers  the  electronic  Detailed  Accident  Report  (e-DAR) Project  to  establish  a  central  repository  for  reporting,  management and analysis of road accidents data across the Country.
- v.       Issued guidelines for the provision of signages on Expressways and  National Highways  to  offer improved  visibility and  intuitive guidance to the drivers.
- vi.      Provisions  have  been made in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for failure to comply with standards for the road design, construction and maintenance, as prescribed by the Central Government from time to time.
13. 2.2    Vehicle engineering:

Various initiatives were undertaken to make vehicles safer, including the following:-

- i.         Mandatory  provision  of  an  airbag  for  the  passenger  seated  on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
- ii.       Prescribed norms related to safety measures for children below four  years  of  age,  riding  or  being  carried  on  a  motor  cycle.  It  also specifies use of a safety harness, crash helmet and restricts speed to 40kmph.

iii.       Mandatory  provisions  for  fitment  of  following  listed  safety technologies: -

For M1 category vehicles:

Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver.

Manual Override for central locking system

Over speed warning system.

For all M and N category vehicles:

Reverse Parking Alert System

- iv.      Mandated Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four wheels and includes a Quadricycle],  M  [Motor  vehicles  with  at  least  four  wheels  used  for
2. carrying passengers] and N [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying goods which may also carry persons in addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories.
- v.        Mandated  speed  limiting  function/speed  limiting  device  in  all transport vehicles, except for two wheelers, three wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.
- vi.       Published  the  rules  for  recognition,  regulation  and  control  of Automated  Testing  Stations,  which  define  the  procedure  for  fitness testing  of  vehicles  through  automated  equipment  and  the  procedure for  grant  of  fitness  certificate  by  ATSs.  The  rules  have  been  further
5. amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024.
- vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/dis-incentives and for creating an ecosystem to phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.
- viii.     Formulated  a  Scheme  to  set  up  one  model  Inspection  & Certification  Centre  in  each  State/UT  with  Central  assistance  for testing the fitness of vehicles through an automated system.
- ix.      Published  rules  regarding  the  Bharat  New  Car  Assessment of
9. Program  (BNCAP)  to introduce the concept of safety rating passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions.
- x.       Published  rules  regarding  prescribed  level  playing  field  in  the area of manufacturing of buses by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders.
- xi.     Mandated vehicles, manufactured on or after 1st October, 2025, shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but  not  exceeding  12.0  tonnes)  and  N3  (goods  vehicle  with  gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category.
- xii.    Published rules for revision of standards for Safety Belt, Restraint Systems and Safety Belt Reminder to provide provisions for applicability  of  revised  standards  for  safety  belt  assemblies,  safety belt  anchorages  and  the  installation  of  Safety  Belts  and  Restraint

Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018.

- xiii.      Published rules for Active safety features in Medium and Heavy Duty  vehicles,  which  provide  for  Braking  System  including  Anti-lock Braking,  Endurance  Braking  System  for  M2,  M3,  N1,  N2,  N3  and Quadricycle (effective for new models from 1st January, 2027 and for existing models from 1st October, 2027), and Advanced  Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) including Vehicle Stability Function (VSF), Lane  Departure  Warning  System  (LDWS),  Driver  Drowsiness  and Attention  Warning  Systems,  Blind  Spot  Information  Systems  and Moving off Information Systems for M2, M3, N2 and N3 categories of vehicles  (effective  for  new  models  from  1st  October,  2027  and  for existing models from 1st January, 2028).

## (3)     Enforcement:

- i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 as stands implemented provides for strict penalties for ensuring compliance and enhancing deterrence for violation of traffic rules and strict enforcement  through  use  of  technology.  Traffic  management  and enforcement  is  essentially  in  the  domain  of  State  Governments/UT Administrations. While Central Government formulates rules under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations.
- ii.       Issued rules for Electronic Monitoring and Enforcement of Road Safety.  The  rules  specify  the  detailed  provisions  for  placement  of electronic enforcement devices on high risk & high density corridors on  National  Highways,  State  Highways  and  critical  junctions  cities having a population of more than one million in the country and cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- iii.       Government  has  issued  guidelines  for  incentive  to  States  for Implementation  of  Electronic  Enforcement  of  Road  Safety  under  the

Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 202526 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore (on first come first serve basis).

- iv.     On 10th June, 2024, the Government has issued an advisory to all the  States  and  Union  territories  on  technological  interventions  for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
- (4)     Emergency care:
- i. Revised  the  scheme  guidelines  (named  as  Rah-Veer)  for  the protection  of  Good  Samaritan,  who  in  good  faith,  voluntarily  and without expectation of any reward or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or assistance at the scene of an accident to the victim or transports such victim to the hospital. As per the scheme, the reward for Rah-Veer has been increased from Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 25,000/.
- ii.        Enhanced  compensation  of  victims  of  Hit  and  Run  motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death).
- iii.       The  National  Highways  Authority  of  India  has  made  provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse at toll plazas on the completed corridors of National Highways.
- iv.        Has notified the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme,  2025  on  5th  May,  2025.  The  detailed  guidelines  including process  flow,  stakeholder  wise  standard  operating  procedures  and clearly delineated roles and responsibilities have been notified on 4th June, 2025.

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