LMV licence holders entitled to drive transport vehicles under 7,500 kg unladen weight: SC

A person holding a light motor vehicles (LMV) driving licence is entitled to drive a “transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class” having an unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kg, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

“We hold that if transport vehicle weight is within 7,500 kgs, then a LMV license holder can also drive the same transport vehicle. A driver holding LMV license to drive a vehicle under gross weight of 7,500 kgs can drive transport vehicles. There is no clear difference between LMV and transport vehicle,” a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

The Bench – which also included Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Misra held that a transport vehicle having an unladen weight under 7,500 kg was also an LMV. No empirical data was adduced before it to show that LMV license holders driving transport vehicles were a significant cause of road accidents, it noted.

The top court clarified that the additional criteria for driving ‘transport vehicles’ will apply only to vehicles above 7,500 kg.

The Bench had on August 21 reserved its verdict on petitions raising this legal question that has led to numerous disputes over payment of claims by insurance companies in accidents involving transport vehicles being driven by those possessing licences to drive LMVs.

Insurance firms alleged that the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACTs) and courts have been passing orders requiring them to pay insurance claims, disregarding their objections with regard to the LMV driving licence as they adopted a pro-insured approach.

The issue was referred to the larger Bench on March 8, 2022 by a three-judge Bench headed by Justice UU Lalit (since retired).

The question arose from the apex court's 2017 verdict in the case of Mukund Dewangan versus Oriental Insurance Company Limited in which a three-judge Bench had held that transport vehicles, the gross weight of which does not exceed 7,500 kg, are not excluded from the definition of an LMV.

The ruling was accepted by the Centre and rules were amended to align those with the verdict.

On July 18, 2023, the Constitution Bench commenced hearing on 76 petitions on the issue, with the lead petition filed by M/s Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.

The MV Act provides for different regimes for the granting of driving licences for different categories of vehicles.

The matter was referred to the larger Bench as the top court felt that certain provisions of the law were not noticed by it while delivering the Mukund Dewangan judgment.

On Wednesday, the Bench upheld its decision in Mukund Dewangan versus Oriental Insurance Company Limited in which a three-judge Bench had held that transport vehicles, not exceeding 7,500 kg, were not excluded from the definition of LMV.

During the hearing, Attorney General R Venkataramani had submitted that consultations to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 were “almost complete” but the proposed amendments were yet to be tabled in Parliament. This could be done only in the Winter Session of Parliament, he had said.

The Bench -- which had earlier deferred the matter in view of the Centre's submissions that the Bill amending the MV Act will be introduced in Parliament, had decided to proceed with the hearing.