The Carriage by Road Act, 2007

(1) This Act may be called the Carriage by Road Act,2007. (2) It extends to the whole of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir*. (3) It shall come into force on such date1as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "common carrier" means a person engaged in the business of collecting, storing, forwardingor distributing goods to be carried by goods carriages under a goods receipt or transporting for hire ofgoods from place to place by motorised transport on road, for all persons undiscriminatingly andincludes a goods booking company, contractor, agent, broker and courier agency engaged in thedoor-to-door transportation of documents, goods or articles utilising the services of a person, eitherdirectly or indirectly, to carry or accompany such documents, goods or articles, but does not includethe Government; (b) "consignee" means the person named as consignee in the goods forwarding note; (c) "consignment" means documents, goods or articles entrusted by the consignor to the commoncarrier for carriage, the description or details of which are given in the goods forwarding note; (d) "consignor" means a person, named as consignor in the goods forwarding note, by whom oron whose behalf the documents, goods or articles covered by such forwarding note are entrusted tothe common carrier for carriage thereof; (e) "goods" includes-- (i) containers, pallets or similar articles of transport used to consolidate goods; and (ii) animals or livestock; (f) "goods forwarding note' means the document executed under section 8; (g) "goods receipt" means the receipt issued under section 9; (h) "person" includes any association or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, a roadtransport booking company, contractor and an agent or a broker carrying on the business of acommon carrier; (i) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (j) "registering authority" means a State Transport Authority or a Regional Transport Authorityconstituted under section 68 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988); (k) "registration" means the registration granted or renewed under sub-section (5) of section 4.

(1) No personshall engage in the business of a common carrier, after the commencement of this Act, unless he has beengranted a certificate of registration. (2) Any person who is engaged, whether wholly or partly, in the business of a common carrier,immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall,-- (a) apply for a registration within ninety days from the date of such commencement; (b) cease to engage in such business on the expiry of one hundred and eighty days from the dateof such commencement unless he has applied for registration and the certificate of registration hasbeen granted by the registering authority.

(1) Any person, who is engaged or intends toengage in the business of a common carrier, shall apply for the grant or renewal of a certificate ofregistration for carrying on the business of common carrier to the registering authority. (2) An application under sub-section (1) shall be made, to the registering authority having jurisdictionin the area in which the applicant resides or has his principal place of business stating that the applicationis for the main office, in such form and manner and accompanied by such fees payable to the registeringauthority as may be prescribed. (3) An application for grant or renewal of certificate of registration for the main office shall containthe details of branch office, if any, to be operated outside the jurisdiction of the State or Union territory inwhich the main office is to be registered in such form and manner as may be prescribed: Provided that an application for the purpose to open or close a branch office shall be made to theregistering authority having jurisdiction over the main office. (4) A registering authority shall, before granting or renewing a certificate of registration, satisfy itselfthat the applicant fulfills such conditions as may be prescribed. (5) The registering authority may, on receipt of an application under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3)and after satisfying itself that the applicant fulfills the requirements of sub-section (4), grant the certificateof registration or renew it, as the case may be, for carrying on the business of a common carrier, in suchform and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed: Provided that no application for the grant or renewal of a certificate of registration shall be refused bythe registering authority unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard and the reasonsfor such refusal are given in writing by the registering authority within sixty days from the date of receiptof such application: Provided further that if such refusal has not been communicated within sixty days of the date ofapplication, the registering authority shall grant or renew certificate of registration within a further periodof thirty days. (6) A certificate of registration granted or renewed under sub-section (5) shall contain the details ofbranch offices to be operated in various States and Union territories, and shall be valid for a period of tenyears from the date of such grant or renewal, as the case may be: Provided that in the case of registration in respect of branch offices referred to in sub-section (3), thevalidity of such registration shall be restricted to the validity of the registration granted in respect of themain office. (7) The holder of a certificate of registration shall-- (a) maintain a register in such form and manner as may be prescribed; (b) for shifting the main office mentioned in the certificate of registration submit an application tothe registering authority which granted the certificate of registration: Provided that such registering authority shall grant or refuse permission for shifting the mainoffice within thirty days from the date of receipt of such application and that no application for shifting the main office shall be refused unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of beingheard and reasons for such refusal are given in writing by the registering authority: Provided further that in case the registering authority has not either granted or refused thepermission within thirty days it shall be deemed that the permission for shifting has been granted; (c) submit to the registering authority under whose jurisdiction the main office is located and theTransport Research Wing of the Ministry or Department of the Central Government dealing with roadtransport and highways such information and return as may be prescribed within one hundred andtwenty days after the thirty-first day of March every year; (d) display at a prominent place in its or its main office and each branch office, if any, acertificate of registration in original or certified copy thereof attested by the concerned registeringauthority, a notary or a Gazetted Officer of the Central or State Government. (8) A common carrier shall not load the motor vehicle beyond the gross vehicle weight mentioned inthe registration certificate whose registration number is mentioned in the goods forwarding note or goodsreceipt, and the common carrier shall not allow such vehicle to be loaded beyond the gross vehicleweight.

(1) If the registering authority is satisfied that theholder of certificate of registration has failed to comply with any of the provisions of sub-section (7) ofsection 4, it may give a notice by registered post or through electronic media or by any verifiable meansto the holder of certificate of registration to rectify within a period of thirty days and in case such a holderfails to do so, it may revoke the certificate of registration on completion of enquiry. (2) If a complaint is received by the registering authority against a common carrier from a consignorin respect of,-- (i) non-issuance of receipt of goods; (ii) non-disclosure of the whereabouts of the goods in transit when asked by the consignor orconsignee; or (iii) detention of goods for delivery without valid reasons; or (iv) demand for unreasonable additional charges at the time of delivery, which were neitherdisclosed nor agreed upon between the consignor and the consignee earlier; or (v) non-payment of charges agreed and payable to truck-owners, it may give a notice by registered post or through electronic media or by any other verifiable means to theholder of certificate of registration to rectify the same within a period of thirty days and in case suchholder fails to do so, it may revoke certificate of registration for a period as may be prescribed under therules on completion of that enquiry. (3) If the registering authority or any other authority so authorised under the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 (59 of 1988) has received proof of violation of provision of sub-section (8) of section 4, it shall becompetent to impose the penalty prescribed under section 194 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 on thecommon carrier, notwithstanding the fact that such penalty have been already imposed on and realisedfrom the driver or the owner of the goods vehicle or the consignor, as the case may be. (4) Any action for revocation of certificate of registration shall not be taken under sub-sections (1)and (2) unless the holder of the certificate of registration is given an opportunity of being heard in theenquiry and reasons for such action are given in writing by the registering authority. (5) The registering authority in whose jurisdiction the main office of the common carrier is locatedshall be competent to take action under sub-sections (1) and (2) and any other registering authority whohas noticed the violations or has received complaints under the said sub-sections, shall report such matterto the registering authority having jurisdiction over the main office. (6) When the certificate of registration is revoked, the holder of the certificate of registration shallsurrender the certificate of registration to the registering authority within a period of thirty days and itwould be incumbent on the holder of the certificate of registration to complete the delivery andtransactions in respect of the consignments already accepted by the common carrier from any consignorprior to the revocation of the certificate of registration. (7) The holder of a certificate of registration may, at any time, surrender the certificate to theregistering authority which granted the registration and on such surrender the registering authority shall,after obtaining declaration from the holder of the certificate of registration that no liability is outstandingagainst him and that he shall discharge such liability, if held liable, revoke the certificate of registration: Provided that if the surrender is in respect of a branch office, the endorsement in respect of the branchoffice shall be deleted from the certificate of registration and such deletion shall be notified by theregistering authority having jurisdiction over the main office to such other authorities as may beprescribed.