The Road Transport (Amendment) Act 2019 (‘Amendment Act’) will come into operation on 1 March 2019.
 
Among others, the Amendment Act clarifies that the Mayor of a City Council has the same powers as the President or Chairman of a Municipal Council to appoint traffic wardens. The powers of a traffic warden, which are exercisable only within the limits of the area in respect of which he is appointed, include the power to direct traffic and to issue summons requiring a person whom he has reasonable grounds to believe, has committed an offence under the Road Transport Act 1987 (“Principal Act”) to appear in court on a specified date.
 
Under section 66(1)(nn) of the Principal Act, the power of the Minister of Transport to make rules to regulate the deregistration of motor vehicles is restricted to vehicles that are not worthy of repair due to serious accidents, old age or other causes or where the chassis number has been tampered with. The foregoing restrictions will be removed under Amendment Act. This may lead to the introduction of rules for the mandatory deregistration of old motor vehicles, regardless of the condition of such vehicles.