The Rest of the Motor Vehicles Act I: Licensing
Chapter Ninety-Nine
Syllabus topic 4.5, "Motor Vehicles Act, 1988- Motor Accidents Claims- Claims Tribunals."
Pages 410 to 413 of 434
Why these five chapters exist
The syllabus examines one part of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988: motor accident claims and Claims Tribunals. The Act has two hundred and seventeen sections, and the rest of it is the regulatory law of the road. This chapter and the four that follow set out what those sections do, in outline, so that a student who is asked "what else is in this Act" has an answer, and so that a student who meets one of these numbers in a judgment knows where it sits.
These five chapters state the arrangement and effect of the sections as they appear in the official consolidation of the Act. The provisions rewritten with effect from 1 April 2022, that is Chapters X, XI and parts of XII, are worked out in full in the chapters before this one.
What Chapter II is for
Sections 3 to 28 answer one question: who may drive, and on what authority. It matters for this subject because a breach of these provisions is what an insurer usually pleads under section 150(2)(a)(ii), and because the licensing standard is part of the standard of care in negligence.
The obligation and the age limits
Section 3. No person shall drive a motor vehicle in a public place unless he holds an effective driving licence authorising him to drive that vehicle; and no person shall drive a transport vehicle, other than a motor cab or motor cycle hired for his own use or rented under a scheme under section 75(2), unless the licence specifically entitles him to do so.
Section 4: age.
| Vehicle | Minimum age |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle generally | eighteen years |
| A motor cycle with engine capacity not exceeding 50cc | sixteen years |
| A transport vehicle, subject to section 18 | twenty years |
No learner's or driving licence may be issued for a class of vehicle the applicant is not eligible to drive under this section.
Section 5: the owner's own duty. No owner or person in charge shall cause or permit a person who does not satisfy section 3 or section 4 to drive the vehicle.
Section 5 is the provision behind National Insurance Co. Ltd v. Swaran Singh, (2004) 3 SCC 297. The insurer's defence is not that the driver was unlicensed but that the owner permitted him to drive, and that is why the Supreme Court required proof that the owner failed to take reasonable care.
Getting and keeping a licence
- Section 6. One driving licence only, apart from a learner's licence or a licence under section 18; a licence may not be lent.
- Section 7. A learner's licence for a transport vehicle requires a light motor vehicle licence held for at least one year, except for an e-cart or e-rickshaw; a person under eighteen needs the written consent of the person having his care for a motor cycle without gear.
- Sections 8 and 9. Grant of the learner's licence and of the driving licence, on application to a licensing authority of the State where the applicant ordinarily resides or carries on business, or where the driving school under section 12 is situated.
- Section 10. The form and contents of licences, and the classes of vehicle.
- Section 11. Additions to a licence.
- Section 12. Licensing and regulation of driving schools.
- Sections 13 to 15. The extent of effectiveness of a licence, its currency, and its renewal.
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