Carriage by Road Act, 2007
No: 41 Dated: Sep, 29 2007
Carriage by Road Act, 2007
(Act No 41 of 2007)
An Act to provide for the regulation of common carriers, limiting their liability and declaration of value of goods delivered to them to determine their liability for loss of, or damage to, such goods occasioned by the negligence or criminal acts of themselves, their servants or agents and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement .(1) This Act may be called The Carriage by Road Act , 2007.
(2) It extends to the whole of India,
(3) It shall come into force on such [date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “common carrier” means a person engaged in the business of collecting, storing, forwarding or distributing goods to be carried by goods carriages under a goods receipt or transporting for hire of goods from place to place by motorised transport on road, for all persons undiscriminatingly and includes a goods booking company, contractor, agent, broker and courier agency engaged in the doorto-door transportation of documents, goods or articles utilising the services of a person, either directly or indirectly, to carry or accompany such documents, goods or articles, but does not include the 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 common carrier 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 or on whose behalf the documents, goods or articles covered by such forwarding note are entrusted to the 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 road transport booking company, contractor and an agent or a broker carrying on the business of a common carrier;
(i) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(j) “registering authority” means a State Transport Authority or a Regional Transport Authority constituted 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.
3. Persons not to engage in business of common carrier without registration.—(1) No person shall engage in the business of a common carrier, after the commencement of this Act, unless he has been granted 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 date of such commencement unless he has applied for registration and the certificate of registration has been granted by the registering authority