Light Vehicle Licence Holders Can Drive Transport Vehicles, Says Supreme Court

A holder of a light motor vehicle driving licence doesn't need separate authorisation to drive a transport vehicle with unladen weight of less than 7,500 kilograms, the Supreme Court has held.

A constitution bench comprising five judges of the top court has held that if a transport vehicle's weight is within 7,500 kilograms, then an LMV licence holder can also drive it.

"No data has been shown to support otherwise," the top court said.

The court clarified that additional criteria for driving transport vehicles will apply to only those vehicles, whose gross weight exceeds 7,500 kilograms.

This interpretation achieves the broader twin objectives of the Motor Vehicles Act, namely road safety and timely compensation to people involved in road accidents, the court said.

The top court added that the ruling will prevent insurance companies from rejecting legitimate claims based on technical distinctions between transport and non-transport vehicles.

This will also effectively address livelihood issues for drivers operating transport vehicles who clock maximum hours in legally operating transport vehicles below 7,500 kilograms with their LMV driving licences, the court said.

All such drivers should drive responsibly, the top court said.

Ruling in favour of gig workers spending countless hours driving transport vehicles, the apex court laid emphasis on the issue of road safety.

Road safety is a serious public issue globally, and India was responsible for nearly 1.7 lakh deaths on road in 2023, the court said.

However, to say that all this happened because LMV licence holders were driving transport vehicles is baseless, the court said.

The court flagged multiple reasons behind road accidents including not following seat belt rules, use of mobile phones, drunk driving, and the likes. The court added that driving a motor vehicle is a complex task which involves various skills.

Core skills expected of a driver are applicable universally, be it a transport vehicle or a non-transport one, the court said.

Lastly, the court said that it hopes that necessary amendments will be made to the Motor Vehicles Act soon to deal with the lacunae in the extant licencing regime.