Vehicle owner to be fined if minor found driving

IF a person below the age of 18 is caught driving a car or a bike, the owner of the vehicle will face a steep penalty and the vehicle may become unusable for a year as its registration certificate may be temporarily suspended.

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This rigorous crackdown on under-age driving comes in the wake of amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Act 2019 which states that accident victims (whether injured or deceased) can only seek compensation from vehicle owners if the vehicle was operated by a minor or someone without a valid driving licence. The revised regulations apply to accidents occurring after April 2022. Previously, the MV Act required insurance companies to provide compensation to victims and later recover it from the vehicle owner.

A judicial magistrate court in Karaikudi recently directed the road transport department to suspend the registration certificate of a KTM brand bike for 12 months and impose Rs.

26,000 penalty on the person who gave the bike to a minor boy for driving. Although the boy's parents paid the penalty, the bike was rendered inoperable for a year.