S.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, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
       (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

S.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 door-to-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 ent

S.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.

S.4 Application for grant or renewal of registration

       (1) Any person, who is engaged or intends to engage in the business of a common carrier, shall apply for the grant or renewal of a certificate of registration for carrying on the business of common carrier to the registering authority.
       (2) An application under sub-section (1) shall be made, to the registering authority having jurisdiction in the area in which the applicant resides or has his principal place of business stating that the application is for the main office, in such form and manner and accompanied by such fees payable to the registering authority as may be prescribed.
       (3) An application for grant or renewal of certificate of registration for the main office shall contain the details of branch office, if any, to be operated outside the jurisdiction of the State or Union territory in which the main office is to be registered i

S.5 Suspension or cancellation of registration

       (1) If the registering authority is satisfied that the holder of certificate of registration has failed to comply with any of the provisions of sub-section (7) of section 4, it may give a notice by registered post or through electronic media or by any verifiable means to the holder of certificate of registration to rectify within a period of thirty days and in case such a holder fails to do so, it may revoke the certificate of registration on completion of enquiry.
       (2) If a complaint is received by the registering authority against a common carrier from a consignor in respect of,--
       (i) non-issuance of receipt of goods;
       (ii) non-disclosure of the whereabouts of the goods in transit when asked by the consignor or consignee; or
       (iii) detention of goods

S.6 Appeal

       (1) Any person aggrieved by an order of the registering authority refusing to grant or renew a certificate of registration or suspending or revoking a registration under this Act, may, within sixty days from the date of such order, appeal to the State Transport Appellate Tribunal constituted under sub-section (2) of section 89 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988(59 of 1988).
       (2) An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be preferred in duplicate in the form of a memorandum setting forth the grounds of objection to the order of the registering authority and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.
       (3) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2), the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 89 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988(59 of 1988), as in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, with re

S.7 Submission of annual return

The State Transport Authority in respect of each State or Union territory shall submit annually to the Ministry or Department of the Central Government dealing with road transport and highways a consolidated annual return giving the details of the goods carried by the common carriers in that State or the Union territory, as the case may be, on the basis of the returns received from the holders of the registration as specified under clause (c) of sub-section (7) of section 4.

S.8 Goods forwarding note

       (1) Every consignor shall execute a goods forwarding note, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, which shall include a declaration about the value of the consignment and goods of dangerous or hazardous nature.
       (2) The consignor shall be responsible for the correctness of the particulars furnished by him in the goods forwarding note.
       (3) The consignor shall indemnify the common carrier against any damage suffered by him by reason of incorrectness or incompleteness of the particulars on the goods forwarding note.

S.9 Goods receipt

       (1) A common carrier shall,--
       (a) in case where the goods are to be loaded by the consignor, on the completion of such loading; or
       (b) in any other case, on the acceptance of the goods by him, issue a goods receipt in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
       (2) The goods receipt shall be issued in triplicate and the original shall be given to the 'consignor.
       (3) The goods receipt shall be prima facie evidence of the weight or measure and other particulars of the goods and the number of packages stated therein.
       (4) The goods receipt shall include an undertaking by the common carrier about the liability under section 10 or section 11.

S.10 Liability of common carrier

       (1) The liability of the common carrier for loss of, or damage to any consignment, shall be limited to such amount as may be prescribed having regard to the value, freight and nature of goods, documents or articles of the consignment, unless the consignor or any person duly authorised in that behalf have expressly undertaken to pay higher risk rate fixed by the common carrier under section 11.
       (2) The liability of the common carrier in case of any delay up to such period as may be mutually agreed upon by and between the consignor and the common carrier and specifically provided in the goods forwarding note including the consequential loss or damage to such consignment shall be limited to the amount of freight charges where such loss, damage or delay took place while the consignment was under the charge of such carrier:
       Provided that beyo

S.11 Rates of charge to be fixed by common carrier for carriage of consignment at a higher risk rate

       Every common carrier may require payment for the higher risk undertaken by him in carrying a particular consignment at such rate of charge as he may fix and correspondingly, his liability would be in accordance with the terms as may be agreed upon with the consignor:
       Provided that to entitle such carrier to claim payment at a rate higher than his ordinary rate of charge, he should have exhibited a printed or written notice, in English and the vernacular language of the State, of the higher rate of charge in the place or premises where he carries on the business of common carrier.

S.12 Conditions Limiting exonerating the liability f the common carrier

       (1) Every common carrier shall be liable to the consignor for the loss or damage to any consignment in accordance with the goods forwarding note, where such loss or damage has arisen on account of any Criminal act of the common carrier, or any of his servants or agents.
       (2) In any suit brought against the common carrier for the loss, damage or nondelivery of consignment, it shall not be necessary for the plaintiff to prove that such loss, damage or non-delivery was owing to the negligence or criminal act of the common carrier, or any of his servants or agents.
       (3) Where any consignment has been detained for examination or scrutiny by a competent authority and upon such examination or scrutiny it is found that certain prohibited goods or goods on which due tax was not paid or insufficiently paid have been entrusted to the common carrier b

S.13 Provision for carriage of goods of dangerous or hazardous nature to human life

       (1) No goods of dangerous or hazardous nature to human life shall be carried by a common carrier except in accordance with such procedure and after complying with such safeguards as may be prescribed.
       (2) The Central Government may, by rules made in this behalf, specify the goods of dangerous or hazardous nature to human life and the label or class of labels to be carried in, or displayed on, the motor vehicle or such goods in the course of transportation.
       (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, every common carrier shall scrutinise and ensure before starting transportation of any consignment containing goods of dangerous or hazardous nature to human life that the consignment is covered by, one or more insurance policies under a contract of insurance in respect of such goods providing relief i

S.14 Power of Central Government to prohibit carriage of certain class of goods

The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, in public interest, the goods or class or classes of goods which shall not be carried by a common carrier.

S.15 Right of common carrier in case of consignee's default

       (1) If the consignee fails to take delivery of any consignment of goods within a period of thirty days from the date of notice given by the common carrier, such consignment may be deemed as unclaimed:
       Provided that in case of perishable consignment, the period of thirty days shall not apply and the consignment shall be deemed unclaimed after a period of twenty-four hours of service of notice or any lesser period as may be mutually agreed to by and between the common carrier and the consignor.
       (2) In the case of an unclaimed consignment under sub-section (1), the common carrier may,-
       (a) if such consignment is perishable in nature, have the right to sell the consignment; or
       (b) if such consignment is not perishable in nature, cause a notice to be ser

S.16 Notice for institution of a suit

No suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted against a common carrier for any loss of, or damage to, the consignment, unless notice in writing of the loss or damage to the consignment has been served on the common carrier before the institution of the suit or other legal proceeding and within one hundred and eighty days from the date of booking of the consignment by the consignor.

S.17 General responsibility of common carrier

       Save as otherwise provided in this Act, a common carrier shall be responsible for the loss, destruction, damage or deterioration in transit or non-delivery of any consignment entrusted to him for carriage, arising from any cause except the following, namely:
       (a) act of God;
       (b) act of war or public enemy;
       (c) riots and civil commotion;
       (d) arrest, restraint or seizure under legal process;
       (e) order or restriction or prohibition imposed by the Central Government or a State Government or by an officer or authority subordinate to the Central Government or a State Government authorised by it in this behalf:
       Provided that the common carrier shall not be relieved of

S.18 Punishment for contravention in relation to non-registration, carrying goods of dangerous or hazardous nature, or prohibited goods

       (1) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3, section 13 or a notification issued under section 14 shall be punishable for the first offence with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, and for the second or subsequent offence with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
       (2) If the person committing an offence under this Act is a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
       Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exe

S.19 Composition of offences

       (1) Any offence committed under section 18, may either before or after the institution of the prosecution, be compounded by such officers or authorities and for such amount as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
       (2) Where an offence has been compounded under sub-section (1), the offender shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against him in respect of such offence.

S.20 Power to make rules

       (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
       (2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-
       (a) the form and manner of making an application for grant or renewal of a certificate of registration for main office or branch office and the fee thereof under sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 4;
       (b) the other conditions of eligibility which are required to be fulfilled by an applicant under clause (d) of sub-section (4) of section 4;
       (c) the form in which and the conditions subject to which certificate of registration or renewal may be granted under sub-section (5

S.21 Power to remove difficulties

       (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by general or special order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:
       Provided that no such order shall be made under this section after the expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.
       (2) Every order made under sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is made, before each House of Parliament.

S.22 Repeal and saving

       (1) The Carriers Act, 1865(3 of 1965), is hereby repealed.
       (2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Carriers Act, 1865(3 of 1965), anything done or any action taken under the said Act shall, in so far as such thing or action is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions of this Act and shall continue in force accordingly until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
       (3) The mention of particular matters in this section shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897(10 of 1897) with regard to the effect of repeals.