Vehicle Permits in India

 “A vehicle permit is necessary to prevent illegal or unwanted vehicles from passing from one state to another.”

NEED & IMPORTANCE OF PERMIT

Advancement in the market and economy and opening of new ways for transportation has led to continuous and busy transmigration of vehicles all across the country. From a private individual to a businessman to a local auto driver, all move across the cities and states for their business or to earn livings.

But this movement whether intra or interstate will not be possible unless the person has a vehicle permit to travel with his vehicle for his needs.

Types of permits under Motor Vehicle Act, 1988

·         Vehicle Permits for goods vehicles

Goods carrier permits: Section 77 of the Act lays down the provisions of permits for motor vehicles for the carriage of goods if the vehicle runs inside the state for a definite zone in the state.

Permits for Counter Signatures of Goods Transporter: As Section 77 says that permits are given for movement of vehicles within the zones of the State but Section 88 provides an allowance of movements of vehicles carrying goods interstate if the permit is countersigned by the respective state or region where the vehicle is travelling to. Delhi refuses to issue this permit to those vehicles that weigh above 7500 kilos and are not running on clean fuel.

National Permits: A national permit is issued to a good vehicle that must be moved out from its home state. Such permit is issued for at least 4 states taking into account the home states(permit is issued for minimum of 3 outside states.) as per Rule 86 and 87 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, 1989. 

To get a national permit, a vehicle should not be more than 12 years old, and the age of a multi-axle vehicle should not be more than 15 years.

·         Permits available for passenger vehicles

Permits of Autorickshaw and Taxis: this vehicle permit is issued to taxis and auto-rickshaws by MLO Burari, Delhi and the tariff for the vehicles is usually decided by meters in the vehicle.

Maxicab Permit: this permit is issued to the vehicles that take passengers through fixed routes in Delhi. They are issued by State Transport Authorities and the capacity of the vehicle is maximum 13 people including the driver.

Contract Carriage Buses Permits (Chartered Buses): These permits are issued under Section 74 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This is the most common type of permit where the permit holder and the vehicle owner come under a contract that allows the vehicle owner to travel across.

The driver of the chartered bus should carry with him a list of the passengers and he cannot allow anyone else to board the bus.

·         Temporary Permits

Issuance of temporary permits is done under Section 87 of the Act. In some cases, the Regional Transport Authority and the State Transport Authority may issue a permit without following the procedure laid down in Section 80 for a limited period which may not extend more than four months.

·         All India Tourist Permit (AITP)

To obtain AITP, the vehicle has to fulfil a few requirements. If the vehicle is a bus, it should be a luxury bus which is in white and a blue ribbon of 5 centimetres should be placed at the centre of the exterior of the body of the bus.

It should also have the word ‘tourist’ written on two sides of the vehicle.

Cancellation and suspension of permits- Section 86

The regional transport authority or the state transport authority may cancel the permit or may suspend it for such period as it thinks fit on the following grounds:

·         On the breach of any condition specified in section 84 or of any condition contained in the permit, or;

·         If the holder of the permissible uses or causes or allows a vehicle to be used in any manner not authorised by the permit, or;

·         If the holder of the permit ceases to own the vehicle covered by the permit, or;

·         If the holder of the permit has obtained the permit by fraud or misrepresentation, or;

·         If the holder of the goods carriage permit, fails without reasonable cause, to use the vehicle for the purposes for which the permit was granted, or;

·         If the holder of the permit acquires the citizenship of any foreign country.

Such suspension or cancellation of the permit will not occur unless the other person gets the opportunity to be heard. 

Fees for Different Vehicles Permit

What are the different vehicle permit fees? Find out below.

Local Vehicle Permit

Type of Vehicle	Amount of Fees (₹)	Permit Period
Light Goods Vehicle or LGV	2000 and 500 for Authorization	5 years and 1 year
Heavy Goods Vehicle or HGV	2500	5 years

National Vehicle Permit

Type of Vehicle	Amount of Fees (₹)	Permit Period
Light Goods Vehicle or LGV	2015 and 500 for Authorization	5 years and 1 year
Heavy Goods Vehicle or HGV	2515	5 years

 

State-wise Fees for Getting a National Vehicle Permit

Name of the State	Amount (₹)
Andhra Pradesh	3000
Assam	5000
Bihar	5000
Chandigarh	1500
Gujarat	5000
Haryana	5000
Himachal Pradesh	5000
Jammu and Kashmir	5000
Kerala	5000
Madhya Pradesh	5000
Maharashtra	5000
Meghalaya	5000
Orissa	5000
Pondicherry	1500
Punjab	5000
Rajasthan	5000
Tamil Nadu	3000
Uttar Pradesh	5000
West Bengal	5000

The documents you will require for a permit are  :-

• Form numbers 46 and 48
• Registration certificate of the vehicle
• Insurance certificate of the vehicle
• Demand drafts in favour of the Transport Authorities
• National Permit Fee
• Payment of green tax
• Tax payment proof for the present quarter to the home state
• Vehicle’s Fitness Certificate

Form 4

It is the form of application for grant of authorisation for tourist permit or national permit.

Form 48

It is the application for the grant of national permit.

PARKING PLACES AND HALTING STATIONS ( Under Section 117 Of MVA 1988 )

determine places at which motor vehicles may stand either indefinitely or for a specified period of time, and may determine the places at which public service vehicles may stop for a longer time than is necessary for the taking up and setting down of passengers.

SPEED LIMIT OR LIMITS OF SPEED ( Under Section 112 OF MVA, 1988)

 No person shall drive a motor vehicle or cause or allow a motor vehicle to be driven in any public place at a speed exceeding the maximum speed or below the minimum speed fixed for the vehicle under this Act.

SPEED LIMITS PRESCRIBED BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

 

STATIONARY VEHICLE (Section 126 in The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988)

1.    A person in the driver seat or a driver must have a driving license to stop the vehicle in prescribed parking or halting stations.

2.    If the driver is not in the driver seat then there must be a mechanism that allows the vehicle to be stationary by using brake or brakes, to ensure that the vehicle cannot accidentally be put in motion in the absence of the driver.

 

SAFETY MEASURES FOR DRIVERS/PASSENGERS

·         Always wear a seatbelt.

·         Avoid distractions.

·         Do not cross the speed limits.

·         Service your car regularly.

·         Follow traffic signals.

·         Maintain lane discipline.

·         Be careful during bad weather.

 

DUTY  OF DRIVER  IN CASE OF ACCIDENT AND INJURY TO A PERSON.

(Under Section 132 & 134 of MVA 1988 )

a) Section 132 and 134: These sections deal with the responsibility of a driver. Section 134 even states that the Act requires immediate action by the driver, or the person-in-charge to take the injured person the hospital as soon as possible.

b) The Act mentions three modes by which the aggrieved party could receive compensation.

c) In case you are convicted of negligent or rash driving, you will be booked under section 279 IPC that deals with rash and negligent driving which is punishable with imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs 1000 or both. You can also be booked under section 336, 337 of IPC which provide that if a person drives rashly endangering life or personal liberty of others and under section 338 IPC punishable with imprisonment of up to 2 years or with fine or both.

d) Whoever drives any vehicle, or rides, on any public way in a manner so rash or negligent as to endanger human life, or to be likely to cause hurt or injury to any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine of Rs 1000 or both.

In 'hit and run' cases, there is a possibility of a victim being involved who needs immediate medical help. In India, people are afraid that they will get caught up in a court case if they tend to the victim, so they don't intervene and in many cases, the victim loses his life. 

IMPORTANT SECTIONS FOR PERMITS

66	Necessity for permits
67	Power to State Government to control road transport
68	Transport Authorities
69	General provision as to applications for permits
70	Application for stage carriage permits
71	Procedure of Regional Transport Authority in considering
72	Grant of stage carriage permits
73	Application for contract carriage permits
74	Grant of contract carriage permit
75	Scheme for renting of motor cabs
76	Application for private service vehicle permit
77	Application for goods carriage permits
78	Consideration of application for goods carriage permits
79	Grant of goods carriage permit
80	Procedure in applying for and granting permits
81	Duration and renewal of permits
82	Transfer of permit
83	Replacement of vehicles
84	General conditions attaching to all permits
85	General form of permits
86	Cancellation and suspension of permits
87	Temporary permits
88	Validation of permits for use outside region in which granted