The Supreme Court has directed the central government to launch pilot projects to replace stopping at toll plazas with automatic detection of vehicles and to link fuel dispensation to valid insurance status. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra asked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to design the pilots.\n\nThe court highlighted poor compliance with the Motor Vehicles Act requirement for third-party insurance and cited a standing committee report that placed uninsured vehicles at nearly 56 per cent of the fleet. It recorded that the absolute figure corresponds to 165.4 mn vehicles out of 304.8 mn and said this undermines victim compensation.\n\nThe bench directed the IRDA to consider a scheme under which petrol pumps would refuse fuel to vehicles without valid insurance until cover was obtained, and it suggested the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras for identification. It noted that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had in principle no objection to the linkage.\n\nThe court recalled its 2018 direction requiring three years of third-party cover for new cars and five years for new two-wheelers at registration, and said the period should be enhanced by one year. It therefore directed that third-party cover be for four years for new cars and six years for new two-wheelers and asked the IRDA to issue directions.\n\nThe bench ordered deployment of ANPR systems integrated with data from the Insurance Information Bureau and the VAHAN portal to enable automatic e-challans for uninsured vehicles, and directed that state police be provided handheld devices or downloadable apps linked to those databases. It asked the IRDA and the MoRTH to ensure availability of policy options including add-on covers, personal accident cover and own damage cover alongside a base policy meeting statutory minima.\n\nThe court said the measures aim to ensure ground-level compliance with Section 146 of the Motor Vehicles Act. It said they are intended to reduce delays faced by accident victims when seeking compensation.