New Motor Vehicles Bill in next session of Parliament: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: With an aim to reduce the number of road accidents in the country by adopting international best practices, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will introduce the new Motor Vehicles Bill in the next session of Parliament.

"To reduce the number of accidents in the country, to do away with red-tapism, to use e-governance we will bring Motor Vehicles Bill which will replace the existing Motor Vehicles Act, 1988," said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, while addressing a conference on road safety here today.

He added that his ministry will soon start the process of seeking comments from various stakeholders and bring a fresh bill in the winter session of Parliament.

The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, being prepared, will be in sync with practices in six advanced nations - US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

"We will commence seeking comments from all stakeholders and bring the bill in the next session of Parliament," Gadkari, who also holds charge of the Ministry of Rural Development, said here.

The new bill is aimed at adopting international best practices in road safety which will help in the reduction of road accidents in the country.

The ministry will soon conduct a scientific study of the matter under which it will seek comments from the states and other stakeholders on the subject.

"There are over 100 touts outside every RTO (Regional Transport Office) in the country, which prepare driving licenses," Gadkari said.

The new bill will overhaul the sector by bringing the corrupt practices in the RTOs to an end.