The Supreme Court said that a person with a light motor vehicle license has the right to drive a commercial vehicle

In a solution for commercial vehicle drivers, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a person holding a light motor vehicle (LMV) licence, is also entitled to drive a transport vehicle with a curb weight not exceeding 7,500 kg.

The decision by the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has shaken insurance companies, which had rejected claims about accidents involving transport vehicles of a certain weight and whether the drivers were competent to drive them as per legal requirements.

“There is no empirical data to suggest that LMV license holders are responsible for the increase in road accidents in the country,” Justice Hrishikesh Roy, who wrote the unanimous verdict of the bench, said. he said.

He said that LMV license holders who spend the maximum time behind the wheel are waiting for a response from the court and that their complaints cannot be rejected on technical grounds.

Besides the CJI and Justice Roy, the bench also included Justices PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra.

The court had reserved its verdict on the vexed legal issue on August 21 after Solicitor General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, stated that consultations to amend the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, 1988, were “almost complete”.

The high court asked the Center to complete the work on changing the law as soon as possible.

The legal question answered by the Board was whether a person holding a light motor vehicle (LMV) license was also entitled to drive a transport vehicle with a curb weight not exceeding 7,500 kg.

The issue has led to several disputes over the ability of insurance companies to pay claims in cases of accidents involving the use of transport vehicles by persons licensed to drive LMVs.

Insurance companies claim motor accident compensation tribunals (MACTs) and courts have issued orders requiring them to pay insurance claims, ignoring their objections to the LMV licence.

Insurers said courts are taking a pro-insured approach when deciding disputes over insurance claims.