Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has clarified through a press release that heavy road making machinery cannot be classified as Motor vehicle and thus will not be covered under the MV Act. Ministry has also asked the state and UT’s not to insist on documentation like registration and driving license for these machines.
Ministry informed the transport department of states and union territories through a letter that it has been receiving a number of representations regarding Road Building and Rehabilitation Equipment, all these representations raise a concern about registration of coil recycling and soil stabilizing machines under Central Motor Vehicles Rule (CMVR) Act, 1989. Ministry discussed this issue in the 56th meeting of the CMVR-TSC (Central Motor Vehicle rules – Technical standing committee).
What did the ministry say?
Ministry of Road Trasport and Highways said that “Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has clarified that the heavy road-making machinery is not a motor vehicle, and is not covered under the MV Act. The Ministry has requested the States and UTs to not to insist upon registration and driving license for these machines,"
"The representations have clarified that Cold milling machines are used to salvage the crust of the existing bituminous pavement to recover the asphalt material and re-use them to conserve aggregate and bitumen and save the associates costs of mining and crushing. Also, the extracted bitumen leads to saving of bituminous thus saving of forex," the statement said.
The statement also added that these equipment are supposed to work in a defined range. Also, the operating speeds of these heavy-duty machinery vary from 5-10 kmph and they are deployed at worksites through trailers.
What type of vehicles does it include?
The press release addresses concerns regarding the registration of Heavy Earth Moving Machineries (HEMM) in addition to machines like cold milling machine, cold recycler, and soil stabilizers
Talking about the different types of machinery included, Statement said “HEMM such as Dumpers, Payloaders, Shovels, Drill Master, Bulldozers, Motor Grader and Rock breakers are also categorized as 'Off the Road' operated and maintained within mine boundary under sole management, supervision, and control of Mines Manager and never used outside mine boundary.”
