Third-party insurance is now a must to register new vehicles in Capital
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s transport department has directed all 13 motor licensing officers (MLOS) to register new vehicles only if they have third-party insurance.
New rules issued by the Centre make it a must for vehicles at the time of sale to have thirdparty insurance for a period of three years for four-wheelers and five years for two-wheelers instead of one year.
Following the directions, if a vehicle is found plying without a third-party cover, its registration might be cancelled, officials in the Delhi government said.
The guidelines came into effect from September 1 after a notification from the union ministry of road, transport and highways (MORTH). The union ministry in a letter to the transport department on August 29 asked it to implement the new rules.
“The department issued instructions to all MLOS to ensure all new vehicles are registered only if they fulfil the new guidelines. For any vehicle found without a third-party cover, the registration will be cancelled,” said a senior officer, not wishing to be named.
The rule is applicable only for new vehicles, the officer added.
The guidelines were introduced following a Supreme Court order on July 20 this year on a plea seeking relief for victims of road accidents who could not get compensation as owners did not have third-party cover.
The recommendation was suggested by the SC’S Road Safety Committee in a meeting on March 26 where it stated that 66% vehicles running on roads across the country were without any t hird-party i nsurance cover.
The committee recorded that of the approximately 18 crore vehicles plying on city roads, only six crore have third-party cover and that victims of road accidents, in particular fatal accidents, are not getting compensation because the vehicles are not insured.
The court noted that more than a lakh people die in road accidents per year across the country.
Delhi, which has over one crore registered vehicles, records a high number of deaths due to road accidents.
A report prepared by the MORTH titled ‘Road Accidents in India 2016’ revealed that Delhi had 1591 -- the highest -deaths due to road accidents in that year. Chennai had the highest number of road accidents.
Data released by Delhi Police showed that in 2017, the city witnessed 1474 fatal accidents in which 1505 persons were killed. This was less than the number of deaths in 2016 where 1591 people were killed in 1487 fatal accidents.