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Section1
The Motor Vehicles Act

Short title, extent and commencement

In force Act 59 of 1988 As on 18 Oct 2026

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so the text below was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Act 59 of 1988 Cited by 1 provision

This is a second copy of a Central Act. India Code files it on Haryana's shelf as well as under Parliament, and the text is the same enactment. Read it at The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which is the record this site keeps current.

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so this text was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act deals with short title, extent and commencement. This Act may be called the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

(1) This Act may be called the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different State and any reference in this Act to the commencement of this Act shall, in relation to a State, be construed as a reference to the coming into force of this Act in that State.

Section 1, The Motor Vehicles Act (Act 59 of 1988).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Referred to by 1

  1. s. 9 Grant of driving licence

Questions about Section 1

What does Section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act deal with?

Section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act is headed "Short title, extent and commencement". This Act may be called the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

How do I find court cases under Section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Motor Vehicles Act 1, section 1 Motor Vehicles Act, section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 1 of the Motor Vehicles Act, and has it changed?

1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it.

When was the Motor Vehicles Act enacted?

Motor Vehicles Act was enacted in 1988 as Act 59 of 1988. India Code records no commencement date for it. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Read from the Government's own scanned gazette with Azure Document Intelligence, then split into sections by their numbering. India Code publishes no text for this Act. The scan itself is mirrored into our own storage and served at /scan/f09db275-80d6-4bd5-924c-03ac08727bdc.pdf, so the reading here can be checked against the page it came from without depending on India Code's own copy staying where it is (it was at https://indiacode.gov.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/e36db003-a500-4cf2-aaa3-05b529659cd2/content). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.