Road Transport Act 2018: Govt moves to relax punishment, fines

The government is going to bring changes in the Road Transport Act-2018 mainly by reducing sentences and fines stipulated in over a dozen sections of the law following demands from transport associations.

It also seeks to make the offences under two more sections related to overloading and modification of vehicles bailable.

A new section is going to be added to the law making it mandatory for all vehicle owners to insure passengers. Failing to do so, the owners will face a fine of Tk 3,000. Currently, insuring passengers is optional.

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Road Transport Act 2018 – details, repercussions, reactions

The cabinet in a meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office, yesterday approved in principle the amendments to the law that was passed by parliament just five and a half years ago.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said a total of 12 sections of the act are going to be amended.

However, officials at the Road Transport and Highways Division said the number would be higher.

Mahbub said the amendment proposal was placed before the cabinet following recommendations by a committee led by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.

THE CHANGES

The cabinet secretary said the proposed amendment seeks to add a new section under section 98 (Ka) of the law so that vehicle owners get their vehicles insured.

According to section 60(1) of the existing act, it is optional for a vehicle owner to have the lives and assets of the passengers insured as per the capacity of the vehicle. However, making such insurance was mandatory under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 that became defunct following the enforcement of the Road Transport Act-2018.

As per section 81 of the existing act, an offender will face up to six months in jail or a fine of Tk 50,000 or both for manipulation of a vehicle's milometer. Once the amendment is approved, the punishment for the offence would be three-month jail or a Tk 20,000 fine or both.

Section 89 of the act stipulates that a lawbreaker will face up to three months in jail or a fine of Tk 25,000 or both for operating a vehicle that pollutes environment. Once the law is amended, the punishment would be one month's jail or a fine of Tk 10,000 or both.

As per section 92 (1) of the act, an offender will face three month's jail sentence or a fine of Tk 10,000 for violating some traffic rules, including ban on drunk driving, operating vehicles against traffic, and operating bikes without wearing helmets.

Once the law is amended, the punishment for these offences would be one month's jail sentence or a fine of Tk 10,000 or both.

The amendment also proposes cutting the fines for operating vehicles with fake licence and without licence, not displaying fare charts inside commercial vehicles, disobeying traffic signs and lights and illegal parking.

Currently, the offences stipulated under sections 84, 98, and 105 of the act are non-bailable. Once the law is amended, the offences under sections 84 and 98 would be bailable.

Section 84 deals with the punishment for illegally changing the technical specifications of a vehicle, while section 98 stipulates the punishment for accidents due to overloading of vehicles and reckless driving.

Illegal and unscientific modification of vehicles and overloading are considered major reasons for road accidents and mobile courts do not have the jurisdiction to check such offences. Overloading is also a major reason for damages to roads and bridges.

Jatiya Sangsad passed the Road Transport Act in September 2018 following a student movement for road safety. But the law did not come into force until November 2019.

Immediately after the act was passed, transport workers called strikes twice demanding changes in the law.

Against this backdrop, a committee consisting of the ministers of law, home and railways ministries was formed in February 17, 2019, to look into how the act can be implemented.

When the government took the initiative to enforce the law in November 2019, transport associations called strikes again demanding changes to several sections of the law.

Their main demands include making all offences under the law bailable and reducing the fines stipulated under different sections.

The government then decided not to make several sections of the act effective.

The Road Transport and Highways Division in April 2021 prepared a draft of the amended law following recommendations from the three-minister committee.

Although leaders of the transport owners' and workers' platforms have been demanding amendments to the law, the government took time, sources at the associations and the ministries said.

As per the April 2021 draft, at least 29 out of the total 126 sections of the act were supposed to be amended considering at least eight things, including the definition of heavy or medium vehicles.

Fines stipulated under 11 sections and sentences under four sections were supposed to be reduced as per the draft.

The Daily Star could not confirm whether any changes were made to the previous draft.

Yesterday, the prime minister instructed the authorities concerned to build one cold storage in each of the eight divisions to preserve agricultural products, said the cabinet secretary.