An LMV-licensed driver may operate a transport vehicle below 7,500 kg without separate transport authorization.

On 9 June 2006, the appellant-claimant was travelling as a pillion rider on a motorcycle driven by Opponent No. 1, his uncle-in-law. Near a narrow bridge at village Varamkheda, a tractor bearing registration No. GJ-20-T-8649 allegedly came from the opposite direction in a rash and negligent manner and collided with the motorcycle, causing the claimant to fall and sustain injuries.

The claimant filed Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 418 of 2006 seeking compensation of ₹3,00,000 with interest. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dahod, by judgment and award dated 31 July 2013, exonerated Opponent Nos. 3 to 5, including the insurers, from liability to indemnify the owner.

The claimant preferred the present appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Evidence showed that the tractor driver possessed a licence to drive an LMV and that the offending vehicle weighed less than 7,500 kg.

Whether the driver holding a licence for an LMV/non-transport vehicle was legally authorised to drive the offending tractor, whose weight was below 7,500 kg, without a separate transport-vehicle endorsement?

Whether the Tribunal erred in exonerating the insurance companies from liability to indemnify the owner and pay the compensation?

Whether the impugned judgment and award required modification so as to make the opponents jointly and severally liable for the awarded compensation?

The Court exercised appellate jurisdiction under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

It applied the statutory framework governing LMV and transport-vehicle licences under Sections 2(21), 3(1), and 10(2)(d) and (e) of the Act.

Relying on Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Rambha Devi & Ors., 2025 (3) SCC 95, and the Coordinate Bench decision in New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Sindhabhai Mavjibhai Bavaliya, 2026 JX (Guj) 883, the Court held that a driver holding an LMV licence may drive a transport vehicle having a gross vehicle weight below 7,500 kg without a separate authorisation for the transport-vehicle category, subject to statutory exceptions such as vehicles carrying hazardous goods.

The Court further applied the principle that LMV and transport vehicles are not wholly distinct licensing classes where the vehicle falls within the 7,500 kg weight limit.

The RTO evidence, including the driving-licence record at Exhibit 38 and the deposition of the RTO Senior Clerk, established that the tractor driver held a valid and effective licence to drive an LMV at the time of the accident.

The Court also accepted that the offending vehicle weighed less than 7,500 kg. Applying the ratio of Rambha Devi and Sindhabhai Mavjibhai Bavaliya, the Court held that the driver’s LMV licence was sufficient to authorise him to drive the tractor, despite the absence of a separate transport-vehicle endorsement.

Consequently, the alleged licence violation could not justify exonerating the insurance companies.

The Tribunal’s finding relieving Opponent Nos. 3 to 5 from liability was therefore held unsustainable and liable to be set aside.

The judgment and award dated 31 July 2013 in Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 418 of 2006 were modified to hold that all the opponents were jointly and severally liable to pay compensation of ₹1,73,440 with interest at 9% per annum.

The opponents were directed to deposit the amount, with applicable interest, within eight weeks from receipt of the order.