Persons with LMV driving licence entitled to drive transport vehicles under 7,500 kg: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday said that a person with a driving licence for light motor vehicles (LMV) is entitled to drive a “transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class” having an unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kilogram (kg) [M/s Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Co Ltd v. Rambha Devi & Ors].

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices Hrishikesh Roy, PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra held that a transport vehicle which has an unladen weight below 7,500 kg, is also an LMV.

"We hold that if transport vehicle weight is within 7,500 kgs, then an LMV license holder can also drive the same transport vehicle. A driver holding LMV license to drive vehicle under gross weight of 7,500 kgs can drive transport vehicles. There is no clear difference between LMV and transport vehicle," the Court said.

The additional criteria for driving transport vehicles will apply to only those vehicles which are above 7,500 kg, the Court added.

The Court also upheld its earlier decision in Mukund Dewangan v Oriental Insurance Company Limited in which a three-judge bench of the top court had held that transport vehicles, the gross weight of which do not exceed 7,500 kg, are not excluded from the definition of LMV.

The question before the Court was as follows:

"Whether a person holding a driving licence in respect of “light motor vehicle”, could on the strength of that licence, be entitled to drive a “transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class” having unladen weight not exceeding 7500 kg?"

The question was referred to a Constitution Bench in March 2022 by a three-judge bench since there were some variances in terms of the eligibility to get a license under the two categories, as per different provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The three-judge Bench had stated that the 2017 decision of the top court in Mukund Dewangan v Oriental Insurance Company Limited that held that a transport vehicle less than 7500 kg is an LMV, had ignored provisions in the 1988 Motor Vehicles Act.

The Constitution Bench heard 76 petitions in the matter.

The outcome of the case could have a bearing on gig workers who use LMV licences.

[Read Judgment]