CHENNAI: If a person below the age of 18 is caught driving a car or a bike, the owner of the vehicle will face a steep penalty and the vehicle may become unusable for a year as its registration certificate may be temporarily suspended.
The crackdown on under-age driving in TN comes in the wake of amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Act 2019 which states that accident victims (whether injured or deceased) can only seek compensation from vehicle owners if the vehicle was operated by a minor or someone without a valid driving licence. The revised rules apply to all cases after April 2022. Previously, the MV Act required insurance firms to provide compensation to victims and later recover it from vehicle owners.
A magistrate court in Karaikudi recently directed the RTO to suspend the registration certificate of a bike for 12 months and impose Rs 26,000 penalty on the person who gave the bike to a minor boy for driving.
Case rare as violators usually let off after fine
Although the boy’s parents paid the penalty, the bike was rendered inoperable for a year.
As per police reports, the boy, who was driving the vehicle, collided with another two-wheeler on the road, resulting in minor injuries. Though the injuries were minor, the Karaikudi North Police registered an FIR against the boy under sections 199A (violation of the MV Act by a young person) and 129A (operating a vehicle without protective headgear). In the court proceedings, the judicial magistrate ordered the Regional Transport Office (RTO) authorities in Karaikudi to impose a penalty of Rs 26,000 and suspend the bike’s registration certificate for 12 months.
Although providing bikes to children under 18 is an offence under the MV Act, the violators are typically let off with a penalty. Traffic police have primarily been collecting fines and taking written statements from families, saying that they would not, henceforth, permit their children to operate vehicles without a valid licence. Suresh Souli, a city-based advocate for Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, said, “It’s a rare instance where the registration of a two-wheeler valued at Rs 2 lakh has been suspended.”
Over the last few years, as compensation for victims in hit-and-run incidents was not provided on time in majority of the cases. HCs and the SC have consistently ruled in multiple judgments that insurance companies must first settle MACT compensation to victims and then recover it from vehicle owner in the event of fatal accidents.
Karaikudi court order
A judicial magistrate in Karaikudi, recently, directed RTO to suspend the RC of a high-speed bike for 12 months and impose `26K penalty on a man who gave it to a minor for driving