No insurance, no fuel: Supreme Court directs Centre to launch pilot project at petrol pumps
PTC News Desk: The Supreme Court has suggested stricter steps to ensure that vehicles on Indian roads have valid insurance. It has asked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to prepare a pilot project under which petrol pumps could check a vehicle's insurance before providing fuel.
If the proposal is implemented, vehicles without valid insurance may not be allowed to buy petrol or diesel until they renew their insurance. The suggestion is part of a broader plan to improve road safety, which also includes linking Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras with vehicle and insurance databases, giving traffic police instant access to insurance records, and extending the mandatory third-party insurance period for new vehicles.
Pilot project for uninsured vehicles
The Supreme Court has directed IRDAI and the road transport ministry to explore a pilot project that would allow fuel stations to verify a vehicle's insurance status before dispensing fuel. If a vehicle does not have valid insurance, the petrol pump could refuse to supply fuel.
The aim is to improve compliance with compulsory motor insurance laws and reduce the number of uninsured vehicles on the roads. However, this is only a proposed pilot project and does not mean petrol pumps across the country will immediately stop selling fuel to uninsured vehicles.
ANPR cameras to detect uninsured vehicles
The court has also proposed linking ANPR cameras on roads and highways with the VAHAN vehicle database and insurance records.
Under the proposed system, the cameras could automatically identify vehicles without valid insurance and issue e-challans. ANPR cameras are already used in many places to detect traffic violations such as overspeeding, jumping red lights and wrong-side driving. Connecting them with insurance databases would also help authorities identify uninsured vehicles more effectively.
- With inputs from agencies
