NEW DELHI: The Centre is working on a proposal to amend the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act to ensure that key guidelines issued by the Union Government become binding on states, government sources said.
The move aims to address the current legal ambiguity arising from the concurrent nature of legislation on motor vehicles, where both the Centre and states have law-making powers. Officials say delays or inaction by some states on critical reforms create a legal vacuum, hampering the uniform implementation of road safety and transport policies.
“If states don’t act on certain matters, important reforms are left out. The idea is to avoid a situation where nothing moves forward due to jurisdictional gaps,” a source said, adding that discussions are underway and the final proposal is likely to be taken up soon.
The proposed changes would make select Central guidelines mandatory, particularly those related to road safety, vehicle regulation, and transport policy.
Besides prioritising user safety, driver welfare, stricter safety measures, and mandating green mobility, the guidelines also put a cap on surge pricing. States are expected to adopt these within three months.
The Centre is planning amendments to Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act to make its guidelines binding on states in the absence of state-specific regulations. “Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines are under section 93 of the Act. We plan to make amendments in section 93 then if states don’t have their arrangement, the Centre’s guidelines will come into play.
So the other advantage of bringing amendments will be; suppose there are no such arrangements in states, then it will be easier for stakeholders to work according to our model guidelines. Efforts are on to make desired changes before the budget session,” said sources.
Section 93 governs licensing for transport sector agents, including ticket sellers, customer solicitors, and logistics handlers. Since the 2019 amendment, cab aggregators have also been brought under this framework. The proposed changes aim to ensure uniformity across states and offer greater legal clarity for businesses operating nationwide.