Response

You are advised not to challenge RTO. Because they are well within their powers prescribed the motor vehicles act. If at all if you want to challenge, you need to challenge the provision of law in High Court.

The rules & regulations regarding refusal for registration of a car with automatic transmission as invalid carriage have been challenged in different courts of law and orders favourable to the disabled persons have also been passed in certain cases.

The person concerned can take recourse to law in case the RTO authorities are still adamant. It is clearly about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, only it involves the two legs rather than the hands in the case of Dr Satyendra Singh

. For a month now, the teacher at the University College of Medical Sciences in the capital has been struggling with a peculiar problem, the resolution of which could help many others like him beat red tape. Singh is in the market for a car, but having a right leg that is polio-affected is not helping him much despite the central government actually offering excise duty concessions to buyers with special needs such as him.

The confounding thing in his case is his right limbÑthe car company he has approached insists that the tax leniency is allowed only in the case of a disabled left leg. In January, having set his eyes on the hatchback Baleno, Singh approached Maruti SuzukiÕs Nexa showroom, first in Noida, then at Akshardham, where he was told that the excise duty concession was not applicable to him because it was meant only for drivers with a left-leg disability

. He argued that the central government guidelines on the matter did not differentiate between right and left leg disabilities. He also pointed out that he held a driving licence for the Òinvalid carriageÓ category of vehicles, which enabled him to drive his current car, a Maruti Alto. However, a customer relationship manager of Maruti informed Singh that the companyÕs automatic transmission vehicles Òcan be used by the physically disabled customers with left leg disability onlyÓ.

A Maruti spokesperson also said that the burden of verification and certifying the details of buyers with disabilities lay with the car manufacturer. In his case, Maruti informed Singh that it could not discount the price payable under the disability provisions

. ÒIf you are left leg-disabled person, then for the purpose of buying an automatic transmission vehicle, you are as good as non-disabled,Ó remonstrated Singh. Irked by a month of trying to convince the unmoved car company, Singh has now directly approached the government.

Seeking a quick resolution to his problem, SinghÕs letter to the secretary of the ministry of heavy industries, said that Òthe decision by Maruti Suzuki India Limited to exclude customers with right leg disability is discriminatory to say the leastÓ. He, therefore, requested the ministry to instruct car makers to allow people with lower limb disabilities to avail the benefits provided under the law Òwithout any ridersÓ.

Singh pointed out that car companies, including Maruti, earlier sold cars that had been modified for use by people with orthopaedic difficulties. Such cars were termed Òinvalid carriagesÓ. In 2008, in the C. Paulraj vs The Secretary, Ministry of Transport and others case in Madras High Court, Justice D Hariparanthaman had noted, ÒIf the mobility of physically challenged persons is curtailed,

it would result in perpetuating inequality and the object of the Persons With Disabilities Act 1995 would be defeated.Ó The judge, therefore, ruled that the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 did not prohibit any person, including physically challenged persons, from converting motor vehicles into Òinvalid carriagesÓ. The same year, Justice P K Misra of the same court, hearing R RamaswamyÕs petition against the Secretary, Ministry of Transport and others, expanded the meaning of Òinvalid carriageÓ to mean not only factory modified cars, but also those adapted for use by disabled drives at private workshops.

ÒNo major car maker now manufactures invalid carriages in India, so people with disabilities have to get the fabrication done through local mechanics and fabricators,Ó said Singh. If the ministry responds favourably to SinghÕs petition, then it will certainly bring at least this version of a right versus left face-off to a satisfactory conclusion

Reference: “You are advised not to challenge RTO. Because they are well within their powers prescribed the motor vehicles act. If at all if you want to challenge, you need to challenge the provision of law in High Court. The rules & regulations regarding refusal for registration of a car with automatic transmission as invalid carriage have been challenged in different courts of law and orders favourable to the disabled persons have also been passed in certain cases. The person concerned can take recourse to law in case the RTO authorities are still adamant. It is clearly about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, only it involves the two legs rather than the hands in the case of Dr Satyendra Singh. For a month now, the teacher at the University College of Medical Sciences in the capital has been struggling with a peculiar problem, the resolution of which could help many others like him beat red tape. Singh is in the market for a car, but having a right leg that is polio-affected is not helping him much despite the central government actually offering excise duty concessions to buyers with special needs such as him. The confounding thing in his case is his right limbÑthe car company he has approached insists that the tax leniency is allowed only in the case of a disabled left leg. In January, having set his eyes on the hatchback Baleno, Singh approached Maruti SuzukiÕs Nexa showroom, first in Noida, then at Akshardham, where he was told that the excise duty concession was not applicable to him because it was meant only for drivers with a left-leg disability. He argued that the central government guidelines on the matter did not differentiate between right and left leg disabilities. He also pointed out that he held a driving licence for the Òinvalid carriageÓ category of vehicles, which enabled him to drive his current car, a Maruti Alto. However, a customer relationship manager of Maruti informed Singh that the companyÕs automatic transmission vehicles Òcan be used by the physically disabled customers with left leg disability onlyÓ. A Maruti spokesperson also said that the burden of verification and certifying the details of buyers with disabilities lay with the car manufacturer. In his case, Maruti informed Singh that it could not discount the price payable under the disability provisions. ÒIf you are left leg-disabled person, then for the purpose of buying an automatic transmission vehicle, you are as good as non-disabled,Ó remonstrated Singh. Irked by a month of trying to convince the unmoved car company, Singh has now directly approached the government. Seeking a quick resolution to his problem, SinghÕs letter to the secretary of the ministry of heavy industries, said that Òthe decision by Maruti Suzuki India Limited to exclude customers with right leg disability is discriminatory to say the leastÓ. He, therefore, requested the ministry to instruct car makers to allow people with lower limb disabilities to avail the benefits provided under the law Òwithout any ridersÓ. Singh pointed out that car companies, including Maruti, earlier sold cars that had been modified for use by people with orthopaedic difficulties. Such cars were termed Òinvalid carriagesÓ. In 2008, in the C. Paulraj vs The Secretary, Ministry of Transport and others case in Madras High Court, Justice D Hariparanthaman had noted, ÒIf the mobility of physically challenged persons is curtailed, it would result in perpetuating inequality and the object of the Persons With Disabilities Act 1995 would be defeated.Ó The judge, therefore, ruled that the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 did not prohibit any person, including physically challenged persons, from converting motor vehicles into Òinvalid carriagesÓ. The same year, Justice P K Misra of the same court, hearing R RamaswamyÕs petition against the Secretary, Ministry of Transport and others, expanded the meaning of Òinvalid carriageÓ to mean not only factory modified cars, but also those adapted for use by disabled drives at private workshops. ÒNo major car maker now manufactures invalid carriages in India, so people with disabilities have to get the fabrication done through local mechanics and fabricators,Ó said Singh. If the ministry responds favourably to SinghÕs petition, then it will certainly bring at least this version of a right versus left face-off to a satisfactory conclusion
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