Opposition submits dissent notes against motor vehicle bill

The Opposition has submitted dissent notes to the Rajya Sabha Select Committee report on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, tabled in the Upper House on Friday.

The Opposition members in the panel have criticised several clauses, saying it infringes on the states' rights.

The bill, which seeks to overhaul traffic regulations and road safety issues with stricter penalties, was passed by the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session.

The main criticism is regarding the new provision in the proposed legislation which allows new vehicles to be registered at dealers points, instead of the present practice of dealers going to the local Regional Transport Office.

The Congress' B K Hariprasad and Pramod Tiwari, C Narayanan from the CPM, Manish Gupta of the Trinamool Congress, M K Kanimozhi of the DMK, A Navaneetha Krishnan of the AIADMK and Narendra Jhadav, a nominated member, submitted their dissent notes.

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who appeared before the committee, also clarified that the Centre will not interfere in the states' activities in the transport department instead, it wanted to streamline the existing system.

"The state governments are free to decide the quantum of the delegation of powers and the authorities to whom they have to delegate the powers", the panel said in its observation.

The panel also said that one nation one tax can be implemented by the Centre by taking the states into confidence.

The select committee accepted the bill without any amendments despite some states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, strongly opposing several clauses.

Earlier, the bill was sent to the Select Committee headed by BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe in the Monsoon Session after the Opposition gave the transport ministry in writing regarding the various objections.

Speaking to reporters, Gadkari said the government expects the Rajya Sabha to clear the bill during the present session.