An LMV licence authorizes driving transport vehicles below 7,500 kg without additional endorsement.

On 27 October 2008, the deceased, Arvindbhai Ramsubhai Parmar, was travelling with other passengers in jeep No. GJ-08-V-7216. The jeep’s rear wheel burst while it was allegedly being driven at excessive speed and negligently, causing the driver to lose control and the vehicle to collide with a date-palm tree. The deceased sustained grievous injuries and subsequently died.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dahod, partly allowed Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 733 of 2008 and awarded compensation of ₹6,50,080 with interest at 6% per annum from the date of filing until realization.

The insurer challenged the award, contending that the driver possessed only an LMV driving licence, whereas the jeep was a transport vehicle with a seating capacity of twelve persons including the driver.

The claimants contended that the jeep qualified as a light motor vehicle because its unladen weight was 1,740 kg.

Whether the driver, who held a valid licence to drive a light motor vehicle, was legally authorised to drive the offending jeep, despite its classification as a transport vehicle?

Whether the Insurance Company was entitled to be exonerated from satisfying the Tribunal’s compensation award on the ground of breach of the driving-licence condition?

The Court applied the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, particularly the definition of “light motor vehicle” under Section 2(21), and the licensing provisions under Sections 3(1) and 10(2)(d)–(e).

It relied on Mukund Dewangan v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., (2017) 14 SCC 663, and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Rambha Devi & Ors., (2025) 3 SCC 95, especially paragraph 181 of Rambha Devi.

The governing rule is that a driver holding an LMV licence may drive a transport vehicle whose gross vehicle weight is below 7,500 kg, without requiring a separate transport-vehicle authorisation, subject to special statutory requirements applicable to categories such as hazardous-goods vehicles.

The driver’s licence, produced at Exhibit 22, was issued on 26 August 2003 and remained valid until 25 August 2023; it therefore covered the date of the accident, 27 October 2008.

The registration certificate, produced at Exhibit 23, recorded the jeep’s unladen weight as 1,740 kg. On that basis, the vehicle fell within the LMV category.

Applying Mukund Dewangan and the authoritative principles reaffirmed in Rambha Devi, the Court held that the fact that the jeep was used as a transport vehicle and had a seating capacity of twelve persons did not, by itself, invalidate the driver’s LMV licence.

Consequently, the insurer failed to establish a breach of the policy condition warranting exoneration.

It held that the driver possessed a valid licence to drive the offending jeep and that the insurer was not entitled to avoid liability for satisfying the award.

The appeal was dismissed, and the Tribunal’s award of ₹6,50,080 with interest at 6% per annum was upheld.

The Tribunal was directed to disburse the amount to the claimants after due verification and deduction of any deficit court fees; any statutory deposit was directed to be transmitted to the Tribunal.