Chapter XIII — Offences, Penalties And Procedure
Section 201 — Penalty for causing obstruction to free flow of traffic
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Act 59 of 1988)
Text of the section
Penalty for causing obstruction to free flow of traffic.—(1) Whoever keeps a disabled vehicle on any public place, in such a manner, so as to cause impediment to the free flow of traffic, shall be liable for penalty up to fifty rupees per hour, so long as it remains in that position: Provided that the vehicle involved in accidents shall be liable for penalty only from the time of completion of inspection formalities under the law. 2[Provided further that where the vehicle is removed by a Government agency, towing charges shall be recovered from the vehicle owner or person in-charge of such vehicle.] 3[(2) Penalties or towing charges under this section shall be recovered by such officer or authority as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, authorise.]
Reproduced from the India Code text of the Act. Bracketed superscript numerals are the official footnote markers for earlier amendments.
Amended by the 2019 Amendment Act
In section 201 of the principal Act,— (i) in sub-section (1),— (a) the word “disabled” shall be omitted; (b) for the words “fifty rupees per hour”, the words “five hundred rupees” shall be substituted; (c) in the second proviso, for the words “a Government Agency, towing charges”, the words “an agency authorised by the Central Government or State Government, removal charges” shall be substituted; (ii) in sub-section (2), for the words “towing charges”, the words “removal charges” shall be substituted; (iii) after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:— “(3) sub-section (1) shall not apply where the motor vehicle has suffered an unforeseen breakdown and is in the process of being removed."; (iv) after sub-section (3), the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:— 'Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “removal charges” includes any costs involved in the removal of the motor vehicle from one location to another and also includes any costs related to storage of such motor vehicle.'. Revision of fines. Amendment of section 200. Amendment of section 201. 42 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II— 88.
This is the amending instruction from the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 32 of 2019), quoted verbatim. Read it together with the text above — the consolidated version is the section as it reads once these changes are applied.
Before you rely on this. The base text above is the Act as consolidated by the India Code, which predates the 2019 amendment; any 2019 change is shown separately rather than merged in. Later amendments may also apply. For anything official, read the current text on the e-Gazette or the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways site.
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