Team-BHP > Motorbikes


Reply
  Search this Thread
17,997 views
Old 22nd August 2018, 07:39   #1
Senior - BHPian
 
blackwasp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 2,966
Thanked: 26,228 Times
WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Sales of motorcycles and scooters have fallen sharply in the state of West Bengal after a new rule was introduced by the transport department. As per the rule, buyers must have a valid driver's license and present themselves at the regional transport office (RTO) at the time of registration.

The rule was introduced after increasing instances of underage driving and accidents caused by riders without a valid driving licence. Prior to this rule and elsewhere in the country, it is not required for an owner to hold a driving license - only the person driving the vehicle needs to have it.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA), monthly 2-wheeler sales in the state have fallen from 1 lakh to just 30-35,000 units after the notification came into force on June 28. Those who buy bikes on loan in the name of their parents are the most affected.

The move was prompted after all attempts by the authorities to get the two-wheeler riders to toe the line failed. While dealers and manufacturers agree with the intention of this rule, they have questioned it as minors are not able to purchase a vehicle in their name and restricting ownership to license holders can't ensure that minors won't be able to ride motorbikes. Further, asking owners to be present at the RTO would be impractical as RTOs lack the infrastructure to process so many applications. Hence, FADA and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) have urged the state government to abolish this rule.

WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales-cbr250r2.jpg

Source: Economic Times

Link to the Team-BHP News

Last edited by blackwasp : 22nd August 2018 at 07:43.
blackwasp is offline   (29) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 10:30   #2
BHPian
 
ksameer1234's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 775
Thanked: 2,700 Times
re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Wonderful decision by the transport department! This is something that must be replicated all over the country and not just for two-wheelers but also cars. Many a times, vehicles are bought in the name of parents who may not even have valid driving license for the class of vehicle.

This is where the concept of having one common link of Aadhaar shines. Aadhar details are already required for vehicle purchase and since driving licenses are linked to it, registration for any class of vehicle can be easily restricted to the class for which license is valid. I really hope what WB government is doing is picked by all states.
ksameer1234 is offline   (19) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 10:44   #3
Senior - BHPian
 
bigron's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: NSEW
Posts: 1,309
Thanked: 2,705 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

What this country desperately needs is a complete overhaul of the Licensing procedure specially for motorcycles and introduce a system where your age determines the CC of the motorcycle you can ride. This will at least enable the authorities to challan you and/or vehicle owner/impound vehicle in case you want to take your older friends 1000 cc pocket rocket for a spin but your license says you are only 18 or 20 or whatever. Additionally make the dealer accountable if he sells a super bike over a certain CC to an 18 year old. Of-course this must be properly implemented by the authorities on the field to have any effect.
This is the only way you can stop 16 and 18 year olds from walking into a showroom with bags full of money and riding out on a death machine.

Last edited by bigron : 22nd August 2018 at 10:46.
bigron is offline   (8) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 11:23   #4
Senior - BHPian
 
ashwin.terminat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,711
Thanked: 2,192 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackwasp View Post
According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA), monthly 2-wheeler sales in the state have fallen from 1 lakh to just 30-35,000 units after the notification came into force on June 28. Those who buy bikes on loan in the name of their parents are the most affected.

What a fantastic way to deal with this nuisance.

Case in point of finding simple solutions to seemingly complicated problems.

Yes, the loophole of using a parent's DL to get the bike will still be used. But the fact that the number of bikes sold came down by 65,000 means that many parents don't have DLs either.

If the move has reduce the number of unlicensed riders on the road by 65,000 in a single month, it has two thumbs up from me!
ashwin.terminat is offline   (9) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 13:36   #5
Senior - BHPian
 
avira_tk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,326
Thanked: 2,965 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Stupid overreach from the government being hailed as done sort of visionary move and I have no soft corner for two wheelers. The sale of a vehicle has nothing to do with the owner having a licence, what if a grandmother wants her 18 year old granddaughter to ferry her around in a moped? Granny pays a visit to the rto, gets a 2 wheeler licence and then gets the moped she'll never ride? An 18 year old can have superbikes there is nothing in the law against it, why should daddy or mummy get a licence to buy something they aren't going to use?

Wonder why the rule is not applied to 4 wheelers with regards to parking space,that should ease congestion and traffic overnight. Someone has brought aadhar into this, how is your id going to help with vehicle ownership and use. I can't believe an enthusiasts' forum is so excited about government restrictions, soon we'll be celebrating cars that top out at 90kmph because our overlords have ruled that as the safe speed.
avira_tk is offline   (9) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 20:54   #6
BHPian
 
PrasunBannerjee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Udaipur
Posts: 404
Thanked: 1,522 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

I have a different perspective on this. I learnt driving on my own bike in enclosed areas by instructor, followed by getting a license and using the same bike for trial of license. So for obvious reasons, it was brought in my name, before I had a valid license. This would mean I would be totally ineligible in that case as my house didn't have any motorbike beforehand on which I could learn.

What about that?
PrasunBannerjee is offline  
Old 22nd August 2018, 21:05   #7
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,930
Thanked: 3,825 Times

Granny gifting a two wheeler to a non-license holder grand daughter? Better to stop her by hook or crook! Driving/riding a vehicle is not a right, it is a privilege that must come with a responsibility and should require minimum competence (which in this case is the license). If you want to buy a vehicle, you must know how to drive it first.

Just because one can buy the vehicle and prepared to learn over it doesn't mean the public roads become his training grounds. This rule should be replicated in whole country.

Maybe after getting pinched by the sales will the two wheeler industry step up with training schools for prospective buyers.
ani_meher is offline   (4) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 21:54   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
avira_tk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,326
Thanked: 2,965 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Quote:
Originally Posted by ani_meher View Post
Granny gifting a two wheeler to a non-license holder grand daughter? Better to stop her by hook or crook! Driving/riding a vehicle is not a right, it is a privilege that must come with a responsibility and should require minimum competence (which in this case is the license). If you want to buy a vehicle, you must know how to drive it first.

Just because one can buy the vehicle and prepared to learn over it doesn't mean the public roads become his training grounds. This rule should be replicated in whole country.

Maybe after getting pinched by the sales will the two wheeler industry step up with training schools for prospective buyers.
Please read my post again. If you're 18, you can get a licence and nothing illegal in granny giving her a moped. The minimum competence to get a licence is a driving school, you get a 2 wheeler licence if you can take a figure of eight.
There are plenty of techies right where I live who learn driving after buying a car, practically every new car has an L board. These people will never be able to drive properly, driving schools or otherwise.

The driving school instructors are allowed to take their cars on the road, how do you think people learn to drive? It takes a while to get to learn driving manners, that'll never happen if the driving school instructor is your only teacher.

The industry had enough on its plate, and now the useless government is making it worse

Last edited by GTO : 23rd August 2018 at 10:19. Reason: No need to be rude, buddy. Editing the opening line
avira_tk is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 22:29   #9
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Tamil Nadu
Posts: 649
Thanked: 1,839 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

Another poster has already given a granny example. Another example - What if a blind entrepreneur want to buy motorcycles and run a rental service? Or what if someone without a license want to employ driver for their own motorcycle? Who is government to say I couldn't employ driver for a motorcycle?

Why would anyone want to link vehicle registration with driving license? The government can't enforce traffic violations on roads and instead come up with pointless laws and rules when buying a vehicle. There is already law for driving without license, why don't they enforce it rather than writing new laws?

Last edited by Yieldway17 : 22nd August 2018 at 22:33.
Yieldway17 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 22nd August 2018, 22:44   #10
Senior - BHPian
 
greenhorn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: KL-01
Posts: 7,737
Thanked: 4,371 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

What if a wife wants to gift her husband a motorcycle with HER money. Registering it in her name is one way of making sure her no good husband does not disappear with it. With this new rule, she will have to register it in his name, and the bike will now be as good as his. A lot of grooms ask for vehicles as dowry, and while the whole practice is banned, it happens anyway, and this is one of the ways the womenfolk get some leverage on the assets bought with their money.
greenhorn is offline  
Old 22nd August 2018, 23:03   #11
BHPian
 
Roy.S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 706
Thanked: 936 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

There are valid arguments on both sides. The only one I find convincing is when a parent who doesn't have a licence wants to get a bike on finance for a kid who is eligible to ride but doesn't qualify for a loan.
Which is the lesser of the evils? I guess if you insist that the buyer have a valid DL it tends to weed out some unlicensed riders and builds up compliance. Will it make our roads safer? Not a chance!
Roy.S is offline  
Old 22nd August 2018, 23:43   #12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
anjan_c2007's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: India
Posts: 8,255
Thanked: 20,264 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

The Indian Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (with all its amendments till date) nowhere states that a motor vehicle owner needs to hold a valid driving licence. The person driving the motor vehicle must mandatorily hold a valid driving licence though.

In many cases some elderly person (without a licence) may want to own a two wheeler and he/she may have the option to tell either his/her family member or relative to drive or even engage a driver for driving him or her around in the two wheeler.

The underage driving menace is rampant all over the country. We find teenagers aged 16, getting a licence for driving a non-geared two wheeler as per the law. Many consider this as a licence to freedom on wheels or rash wheels rather ! He or she breaks free on a bike/scooter of his or her choice and cases of rash and negligent driving are in the hundreds every day, in every town or city.

Reading between the lines, the Indian Motor Vehicles Act 1988, Sec 4 (1) specifies that the licencees aged 16-18 shall be eligible to drive a non-geared two-wheeler with an engine capacity not exceeding 50 cc. For contravening this Section, the owner of the two wheeler and the underage driver's parents are liable for criminal action (abetment) for which they may be even jailed.

We have a Public Interest Litigation here at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, which among many other maladies lists the menace of underage driving and the steps needed to curb the same. During a hearing on June 6, 2018, the HC, Division Bench heard the amicus curie and the AGP and directed the educational institutions to file affidavits of each individual parent/guardian for their students, affirming that their child/ward is driving a two wheeler of 50 cc or lower engine capacity if aged between 16-18. Name of the student, age, make of two wheeler, registration number, engine capacity, licence number and relevant details need to be stated in the affidavit. Thousands of parents/ guardians have already filed such affidavits through their respective educational institutions for students above the age of 18. It has started to show results at the initial stages. Such a step is fully justified to curb underage driving and is within the realms of all laws of the land. This method to curb underage driving can successfully emerge out unscathed, from judicial scrutiny at any level.

However, after an accident in Nagpur city last week, involving the death of three college girls aged 16-18, riding triple seat on a new Honda Activa (125 cc gearless) being hit by a crane, the traffic police has booked about three hundred underage drivers on two wheelers. Their parents/guardians have been served criminal action and liability notices by the Nagpur Police.

But the W.B. State government's high handed order, which combines a valid driving licence with eligibility to purchase of a brand new two wheeler is simply prima facie absurd. There will be a separate W.B. Motor Vehicles Act, where amendments may be incorporated by the W.B. Assembly/ Legislature through its Transport Department. But such an amendment can be struck down by a competent court of law, if subjected to judicial scrutiny.

Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 22nd August 2018 at 23:47.
anjan_c2007 is offline   (5) Thanks
Old 23rd August 2018, 21:28   #13
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Chennai
Posts: 86
Thanked: 106 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

We can definitely salute the WB government for its thought to address the situation. The effectiveness of this solution in long-term is definitely questionable, it did serve the intention, atleast in the first month.

We Indians are an intelligent lot and would come up with ways around this law in no-time.

The road safety is getting worse day by day and practicing/preaching defensive driving is the need of the hour. Is it a good idea to include defensive driving sessions as part of the school?
ramji_or is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd August 2018, 22:21   #14
BHPian
 
Fillmore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 492
Thanked: 578 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

What about corporate leases ?

I wonder how they are going to deal with 2 wheeler's purchased by corporates . Restaurants buy bikes for delivery, Corporate chains like KFC / Mc D / Faasoos etc.. to name a few have a fleet of bikes.

In case of cars a Corporate lease is quite common where the vehicle will be in the Company's name until the lease is paid up by the employee , Once this is done the ownership is transferred to the employee. So even if they want to implement it for a 4 wheeler they would need to have exception clauses.
Fillmore is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd August 2018, 22:58   #15
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: NCR/ KOL/ BLR
Posts: 1,138
Thanked: 2,042 Times
Re: WB: License requirement for 2-wheelers greatly hampers sales

This is not a new rule. This rule was there for quite sometime in Kolkata. When I bought a bike in 2009 I took the loan in my mother's name because I was in between jobs at that time. However since my mom did not have a license the RTO refused to register the bike in her name. I had to be a co-applicant on the loan so that the bike can be registered in my name but the EMI's went out of her account.

In my opinion, this move does not really stop people without a license to get hold of a bike. They will anyways buy in someone else's name who has. What could have stopped this is having car/bike insurance on the driver rather than the vehicle like in US, UK and the west.
Altocumulus is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks