Bengaluru: The city traffic police have advised all vehicle users to ensure that their vehicles are insured, as they are soon going to launch a special drive against uninsured vehicles. As per the direction of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCRS), the police will seize uninsured vehicles and release them only after vehicle owners produce valid insurance certificates.
The SCCRS, chaired by Justice K.S. Radhakrishan, had discussed the issue with the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), Department of Financial Services and General Insurance Council (GIC). While third party insurance cover is mandatory for all vehicles as per the Motor Vehicles Act, the information provided by IRDA and GIC had revealed that more than 50 per cent of the vehicles plying on roads are uninsured.
In December 2016, the SCCRS wrote to all states and observed that non-insurance of vehicles cause hardship to road accident victims in obtaining compensation that is due. Further, it observed that the government should periodically check the vehicles to see whether the vehicle owners have third party insurance cover. It has also directed that in case they are not covered by third party insurance, the vehicles should be detained till such time the valid insurance certificate is produced by the vehicle owner.
A senior police officer in the traffic wing of the city police said that they will launch the special drive in a week of two. “First, we want to create awareness among the public that not having insurance will cause a lot of inconvenience, not only to the third party, even to the owner/driver if their vehicles are involved in accidents. We don’t want to harass the public by just implementing the directions of the SCCRS without educating them. Vehicle users are advised to get insurance certificates soon, as we are planning the special drive soon. If vehicles are caught without insurance, they will end up paying the penalty,” the official said.
