Motor Vehicle Act 1988 doesn't prohibit PH to convert motor vehicles as invalid carriages

Dear Colleagues,

I had written in detailed earlier in my post titled  "Disabled and Driving - Can both exist together or at the cost of each other? about this issue and host of other issues troubling the disabled persons in India.

An adapted /altered Scooters or an adapted Car with suitable modification like hand brakes and gears provides an easy mobility to a user with orthopedic disabilities.

People with orthopedic disabilities (especially those with Post Polio Residual Paralysis and those with spinal injuries) often prefer a scooter with side-wheels which is an economic mode of transport. Since almost no major company produces such scooters (called an invalid carriage!!!) in India, people with disabilities have to get the fabrication done through local mechanics and fabricators etc.

Registration of modified car/scooter as "invalid carriage" is most difficult
Registering such vehicles and driving license to drive such (invalid carriage) is an uphill task as the rules and law do not specifically provide for this and leaves room for subjectivity and corrupt practices and it leads to exploitation of a user with disabilities at the hands of middlemen and RTOs.

Such an adapted vehicle is registered as ‘Invalid Carriage’ at the whims and fancies of the RTO. To harass the disabled applicants, the RTO often ask the user to produce a sale letter (form 21) of the Invalid Carriage. Now, since no automobile manufacturer in India supply company-fitted scooter with side wheels or produces an invalid carriage, such a sale letter can not be produced. Here starts the harassment to the user and malpractices in absence of laws due to subjectivity available with the RTOs.

Even when the carriage is registered, the user is given a driving license denoting the vehicle number on the license meaning that the user can not drive any other similar vehicle in case the vehicle goes out of order. This necessitates seeking a new driving license each time with a new vehicle (even if the vehicle is similar),

As per the Rule 126 made under Section 52 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended in 2002) the prototypes of all vehicles including the one for the disabled should be approved by the Pune-based Automobile Research Association of India, otherwise no modifications on any vehicle can be permitted and one has to use a vehicle in the same shape and design as supplied by the manufacturing company. This puts an undue restriction on the persons with disabilities and takes away from them their right to free mobility.

Similar is the case for adapted Cars. Previously, Maruti Udyog Ltd. used to manufacture special type vehicles for handicapped persons with suitable modifications/ attachments. As the requirement of different persons with different disability varies, the modifications/attachments also have to be different. Since the prototype of each model has to undergo the test, under Rule 126 of CMV Rules, the manufacturer has stopped production of such vehicles. Hence it is desirable to allow modifications/alterations of vehicles enabling the handicapped to drive their own vehicles.

In such situations, several of our physically disabled friends who have been using their adapted / modified vehicles for their mobility and living a very active life despite their disability have faced harrassment from the RTOs.

Madras High Court provides a Ray of Hope
However, in the instant case, one C. Paulraj, a disabled farmer who modified a Maruti 800 to suit his needs was refused the registration of the vehicle as "invalid carriage" by the Local RTO. Paulraj had converted leg operated brake, clutch etc to hand operated ones since he can't use his legs for the purpose due to polio.

Justice D Hariparanthaman of Madras High Court has ordered that Motor Vehicles Act 1988 did not prohibit any person, including physically challenged persons, to convert motor vehicles as invalid carriages, so long as the alterations do not change the basic feature of the vehicle.

The Honb'ble Justice clarified that changing the leg operated brake, clutch and accelerator into one of hand operation, would not cause a change in the basic feature of the vehicle and asked the RTO to issue permanent registration to Paulraj's vehicle within four weeks.

This is a welcome judgement from the High Court and I am sure this would give much needed relief who suffer in silence due to car makers not providing these options in their designs and they are forced to go to local fabricators to get the modifications done.

Here is the news report:

HC raps transport dept for not certifying disabled man’s car

CHENNAI: It is the state's responsibility to make available 'invalid carriages' for the benefit of the disabled, the Madras high court has said, adding that curtailing the mobility of a disabled would amount to perpetuating inequality.

While directing the authorities to issue registration certificate to C Paulraj, a disabled farmer who modified his Maruti 800 to suit his needs, Justice D Hariparanthaman said, "If the mobility of physically-challenged persons is curtailed, it would result in perpetuating inequality and the object of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 would be defeated."

The matter relates to the rejection of Paulraj's request to the regional transport officer of Tirunelveli seeking registration certificate for his new car. Paulrak is paralysed below his hip. He had earlier an autorickshaw modified and duly certified. He then purchased a car, which was also modified and duly certified. The problem arose when the RTO refused to certify his new car, on the grounds that only company-manufactured vehicles, and not modified versions, could be certified.

Justice Hariparanthaman, rejecting the submission, said that the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 did not prohibit any person, including physically challenged persons, to convert motor vehicles as invalid carriages, so long as the alterations do not change the basic feature of the vehicle.

Pointing out that Paulraj had changed the leg operated brake, clutch and accelerator into one of hand operation, the judge said such changes would not cause a change in the basic feature of the vehicle. He then asked the RTO to issue permanent registration to Paulraj's vehicle within four weeks.