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Section 113: Limits of weight and limitations on use

Motor Vehicles Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1988
Section 112 All 217 Sections of Motor Vehicles Act Section 114

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 113

Section 113 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 prohibits the operation of motor vehicles exceeding registered unladen weights or gross vehicle weights, mandates pneumatic tyres, and creates a statutory presumption imputing knowledge and culpability to the owner for overloading offences.

  • Mandatory Pneumatic Tyres: Section 113(2) enacts an absolute prohibition against driving or allowing any motor vehicle to be driven in a public place unless it is fitted with pneumatic tyres, safeguarding road surface integrity.
  • Strict Laden and Unladen Weight Ceilings: Section 113(3) makes it an offence to drive any vehicle or trailer whose unladen weight exceeds the figure in its certificate of registration, or whose laden weight exceeds the registered Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).
  • Statutory Presumption of Owner Culpability: Section 113(4) establishes an evidentiary presumption that where a non-owner driver operates an overloaded vehicle, the court may presume the offence was committed with the knowledge of, or under the direct orders of, the registered owner.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Paramjit Bhasin v. Union of India (2005) 12 SCC 324: The Supreme Court struck down notifications issued by various State Governments purporting to condone overloading upon payment of compounding fees, holding that Section 113 weight limits are mandatory; overloading destroys road infrastructure, increases accident fatality, and cannot be legalized through executive compounding schemes.
  • B.O.I. Finance Ltd. v. Custodian (1997) 10 SCC 488: The Supreme Court held that statutory prohibitions enacted for public safety create strict liabilities; under provisions like Section 113(4), the owner cannot escape vicarious penal responsibility by delegating operations to commercial transport drivers.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In prosecutions under Section 194 r/w Section 113, do not rely on standard owner defenses claiming ignorance of the load. To rebut the statutory presumption under Section 113(4), the owner must produce contemporaneous electronic weighbridge receipts issued at the point of loading and trip consigner agreements showing the cargo was within legal GVW limits when dispatched.

Section 112 All 217 Sections of Motor Vehicles Act Section 114