You Can Now Drive A Transport Vehicle With Your LMV Licence: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has passed a new ruling allowing drivers with a light motor vehicle (LMV) licence to drive and operate a transport vehicle with a gross weight of less than 7,500 kg, without having to obtain an endorsement from the transport department.

Insurance providers were earlier denied compensation in case of deaths and injuries to others during an accident that involved an LMV licence holder operating a transport vehicle. This happened due to the technicality of the licences, which were unsuitable for the transport department to drive and operate a transport vehicle.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, P S Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra unanimously ruled that “A driver holding a license for Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) class, under Section 10(2)(d) for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight under 7,500 kg, is permitted to operate a ‘Transport Vehicle’ without needing additional authorisation under Section 10(2)(e) of the MV Act specifically for the ‘Transport Vehicle’ class. For licensing purposes, LMVs and Transport Vehicles are not entirely separate classes. An overlap exists between the two. The special eligibility requirements will however continue to apply for, inter alia, e-carts, e-rickshaws, and vehicles carrying hazardous goods.”

In the judgement, the bench also said that this ruling “would prevent insurance companies from taking a technical plea to defeat a legitimate claim for compensation involving an insured vehicle weighing below 7,500 kgs driven by a person holding a driving license of a ‘Light Motor Vehicle’ class.” Furthermore, it added, “In an era where autonomous or driver-less vehicles are no longer tales of science fiction and app-based passenger platforms are a modern reality, the licensing regime cannot remain static. The amendments that have been carried out by the Indian legislature may not have dealt with all possible concerns.”

Justice Roy, who wrote the 126-page judgement, said, “Had the Parliament acted sooner to amend the MV Act and clearly differentiated between classes, categories and types, much of the uncertainty surrounding driving licenses could have been addressed, reducing the need for frequent litigation and an unclear legal terrain. The confusion and inconsistency in judicial decisions continued to persist for 25 years.”