The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) directed all states and Union Territories to expeditiously implement the provisions of the Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) Rules, 1989, which mandate the installation of speed governors, vehicle position monitoring devices and emergency panic buttons in passenger vehicles.
Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan observed that these safety requirements were widely violated across the country.
“We direct all the States and Union Territories to strictly enforce the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 by ensuring installation of vehicle location tracking devices and panic buttons in a time-bound and verifiable manner in new and existing public service vehicles,” the Bench said.
The guidelines were issued as part of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Coimbatore-based surgeon S Rajasekaran, who highlighted the alarming number of road deaths in India and the “absolutely callous and casual attitude” of state authorities towards road safety measures.
The case for public transport
On Wednesday (May 13, 2026), the Bench also expressed concern over the lack of discipline in lane driving in India, noting that it is a major contributing factor in road accidents. The court asked the Union government to take remedial measures in this regard.
“There is no concept of lane driving in this country. Most of the accidents happen because of this… Most of the drivers may be illiterate but lane driving is something the government needs to focus on,” Justice Pardiwala observed.
Senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, assisting the court as amicus curiae, said that according to data presented to Parliament in 2024, speed limiting devices were installed in less than 5% of traffic vehicles, while vehicle location tracking devices were present in less than 1% of such vehicles.
The bench described the data as “disturbing” and ordered that certificates of competency or clearance should not be issued to public service vehicles that violate these requirements.
Referring to Rule 118 of the CMV Rules, which mandates speed limiting devices in transport vehicles, the Bench directed the States and Union Territories to file fresh status reports showing compliance with the requirement.
The court also ordered the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to consult with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that all new vehicles are fitted with speed limiters, vehicle position monitoring devices and panic buttons at the manufacturing stage, while states were ordered to retrofit existing vehicles with these devices.
It further directed states and union territories to integrate compliance data with the centralized VAHAN portal for real-time monitoring.
During the hearing, Mr. Agarwal pointed out that the Motor Vehicles (Vehicle Positioning Device and Emergency Button) Regulations were issued by the Road Transport Ministry in 2018 to facilitate timely emergency response in emergency situations.
Vehicle tracking devices use Global Positioning System (GPS) to continuously transmit the location of the vehicle to a control center run by the government or an authorized agency, Mr. Agarwal said. In the event of an emergency, including kidnapping, abduction, or medical threats, the panic button allows passengers to send instant alerts to police dispatch centers or women’s security command centers, allowing authorities to immediately dispatch help to the vehicle’s location.
The apex court had earlier issued a series of directions in this proceeding aimed at strengthening road safety measures, including cashless treatment for accident victims, compensation for hit-and-run victims and the use of electronic law enforcement tools, including speed cameras, CCTV surveillance, speed guns and automatic number plate recognition systems.
Reviewing compliance with its earlier directions, the Bench expressed displeasure over the Union government’s failure to set up a National Road Safety Board as mandated under Section 215B of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
“We are giving the last opportunity to set up the board within three months from today,” the Bench said.
The bench directed the Union government to file an updated status report stating that they were in compliance with its directions and posted the matter for hearing in September.
Published – 13 May 2026 21:51 IST
