(1) This Act may be called the Bihar Registration of Carts Act, 1961.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,

(a) carf means a vehicle ordinarily drawn by animals and not ordinarily used for the conveyance of human beings but does not include a vehicle without a platform commonly known as saggar in the Chota Nagpur Division and the Santhal Parganas district and used for carrying wood from forests;

(b) district board means a district board established under Section 6 of the Bihar and Orissa Local Self-Government Act of 1885) Ben. Act III of 1885);

(c) district fund means the fund constituted under Section 52 of the Bihar and Orissa Local Self-Government Act of 1885 (Ben. Act III of 1885);

(d) municipal fund means the fund constituted under Section 65 of the Bihar and Orissa Municipal Act, 1922 (B and O. Act VIII of 1922) or under Section 86 of the Patna Municipal Corporation Act, 1951 (Bihar Act XIII of 1952);

(e) municipality means any local area declared by or under the Bihar and Orissa Municipal Act, 1922 (B. and O. Act VII of 1922), to be a municipal and includes a notified area constituted under Section 388 of the said Act and Patna as defined in clause (gg) of Section 4 of the Patna Municipal Corporation Act, 1951 (Bihar Act XIII of 1952);

(f) Prescribed means prescribed by Rules made under this Act; and

(g) year means the year beginning on the first day of April.

Every cart which is kept or is generally used within a municipality or within a district shall be registered in accordance with the provisions contained in Section 4.

(1) Every owner of a cart shall cause the cart to be registered by the prescribed authority.

(2) An application by or on behalf of the owner of the cart for registration shall be in the prescribed form, shall contain the prescribed particulars and shall be accompanied by a registration fee of,

(i) in case the cart is ordinarily used for his own agricultural purposes and does not ply on hire on areas outside the limits of a municipality one rupee when the registration has effect for half a year and two rupees when the registration has effect for a year;

(ii) in case the cart is ordinarily used for any purpose other than those referred to in item (i) above in areas outside the limit of a municipality Three rupees when the registration has effect for half a year and six rupees when the registration has effect for a year; and

(iii) in case the cart is kept or is used in ordinary course of business within a municipality, or is let for hire within or without the municipality and is used in the ordinary course of business within the municipality six rupees when the registration has effect for half a year and twelve rupees when the registration has effect for a year.

Explanation. For the purpose of clause (iii) a cart shall be deemed to be used in the ordinary course of business, if it is used twice a week.

(3) The owner of a cart ordinarily using it for his own agricultural purposes shall be required to produce for the purposes of such registration a certificate from the mukhiya of the Gram Panchayat established under Section 3 of the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (Bihar Act VII of 1948)]2, within whose jurisdiction the cart is ordinarily kept and where there is no such Gram Panchayat from a person appointed in this behalf by the prescribed authority.

(4) The prescribed authority registering the cart shall grant to the owner thereof a certificate of registration in the prescribed form and shall enter in a record to be kept by it the particulars of such certificate.

(5) The prescribed authority may, on an application made to it before the expiry of the certificate of registration granted under sub-section (4), renew the certificate on payment of the same fee as is required in the case of original registration.

(6) A certificate of registration may be granted or renewed for and period not exceeding twelve months at a time, but shall not in any case be effective beyond the 31st March of the year in which the said period commences.

(7) Whenever a certificate is granted or renewed, the prescribed authority shall assign to the cart a registration ticket, painted in the prescribed colour and containing the prescribed particulars; and the owner of the cart shall display the registration ticket on a conspicious part thereof.

If a cart is registered

(i) only for owner's own agricultural purposes outside the limits of a municipality and is subsequently used during the period of registration for any other purposes or, as the case may be, wholly or partly within the limits of a municipality, or

(ii) for any purpose other than his own agricultural purpose outside the limits of a municipality and is subsequently used during the period of registration for any purpose, wholly or partly within the limits of a municipality,

the owner of the cart shall obtain a fresh certificate of registration on payment of the difference the amount of fees required for the purpose for which it was used previously and the purpose for which it is used subsequently.

When the ownership of any registered cart is transferred during any period of registration it shall be registered anew within one month of the transfer in the name of the person to whom it has been transferred, and such fee not exceeding one rupee, as may be prescribed, shall be paid for every such new registration.

Any person who acquires or becomes possessed of any cart which has not been registered for the then current period of registration shall cause such cart to be registered within one month from the date on which such person may have acquired or becomes possessed of the cart.

The amount of registration fee collected in a district shall be deposited and apportioned by the prescribed authority in the prescribed manner between the district board and the municipalities of the district:

Provided that all fees realised in respect of carts used for any purpose in areas outside the limits of municipality shall be allotted to the district board of the district and all fees realised in respect of carts used wholly or partly within the limits of a municipality shall be apportioned amongst the municipalities of the district:

Provided further that apportionment of such fees among the municipalities inter se in the district shall be on the basis of mileage of roads maintained by each municipality.

(1) Whoever keeps or is in possession of a cart not duly registered under Section 4, 5 or 6 shall be liable to a fine not exceeding four times the amount of fee payable by him in respect of such registration, inclusive of the amount so payable; and whoever, being this owner or driver of any cart, fails to affix thereto the registration ticket as required by sub-section (7) of Section 4 shall be liable to a fine exceeding five rupees.

(2) Whoever evades or attempts to evade payment of registration fee by giving false name or identity or refuses to give correct name or address or contravenes any other provision of this Act or the Rules made thereunder for which no penalty is otherwise provided shall, notwithstanding his liability under Section 10, be liable to a fine not exceeding five rupees.

(3) A Court issuing summons to be served on the owner of the cart in respect of any offence under this Act shall state upon the summons that he may if he so desires appear by pleader in which case he will not be required to appear in person.

(1) If any person owns or keeps any cart hereinbefore required to be registered without having caused the same to be registered, the prescribed authority or any person authorised by it in that behalf, may seize and detain such cart, provided the same be not employed at the time of seizure in the conveyance of any passengers or goods; and all police officers shall, on the application of the prescribed authority or the person so authorised in such seizure.

(2) After such seizure the prescribed authority shall forthwith issue a notice in writing that after the expiration of ten days such cart shall be sold by auction at such place and time as may be specified in the notice; and, if any registration fee, together with the cost arising from such seizure and custody, remains unpaid for ten days after the issue of such notice, the prescribed authority may sell the cart seized for payment of such fee and of all expenses occasioned by such non-payment, seizure, custody and sale.

(3) The surplus sale-proceeds, if any, shall be kept and deposited in the manner laid down in Section 8 and may be paid on demand to any person who establishes his right to the satisfaction of the prescribed authority or in a Court of competent jurisdiction:

Provided that, if at any time before the sale is concluded the person whose cart has been seized tenders to the prescribed authority, or to the person authorised by it to sell the cart the amount of all the expenses incurred and the registration fee payable by him, the prescribed authority shall forthwith release the cart so seized.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section, the surplus of the sale proceeds of a cart seized under this Section may be devoted to the payment of any fine imposed under Section 9 and the cart which has been seized under this Section may be sold for the realisation of any such fine.

The prescribed authority shall receive such salary and allowances as may be determined by the State Government.

Subject to the scale of establishment and salaries of the establishment determined by the State Government, the prescribed authority may appoint such persons as are necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act and every person so appointed shall be subject to such conditions of service and shall be entitled to such other remuneration and privileges as may be determined by Rules made in this behalf.

The district board and the Commissioners of every municipality of a district shall, from time to time, place at the disposal of the prescribed authority, for carrying out the purposes of this Act, such amount including the expenses likely to be incurred under Sections 11 and 12 as may be determined by the State Government.

Explanation. For the purposes of this Section, the expression Commissioners of any municipality shall in the case of Patna Municipal Corporation mean the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation.

(1) If at any time it appears to the State Government that any district board, or municipality have made default in performing any duty imposed by or under this Act, the State Government may, by order in writing, fix a time for the performance of that duty.

(2) If that duty is not performed within the time so fixed, the State Government may direct that it shall be performed by the District Magistrate and that the expense of performing it shall be paid within such time as the State Government may fix to the District Magistrate from the district fund or the municipal fund, as the case may be.

(3) If the expense is not so paid, the District Magistrate with the previous sanction of the State Government, may make an order directing person having the custody of the balance of the district fund or the municipal fund, as the case may be, to pay the expense or so much thereof as is, from time to time, possible from the balance and such person shall make payment accordingly.

The prescribed authority and persons appointed by him under Section 12 shall be deemed to be public servants, within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860).

(2) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the prescribed authority or any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or Rules made thereunder.

Nothing in this Act shall apply to

(i) any cart belonging to the Government or to a local authority; and

(ii) any cart used exclusively within a cantonment area.

(1) The State Government may, subject to previous publication, make Rules not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) Every Rule made under this Section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the Rule or both Houses agree that the Rule should not be made, the Rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that Rule.

The enactments mentioned in the third column of the Schedule, so far as they are in force in the State of Bihar, are hereby repealed or amended to the extent and in the manner specified in the fourth column thereof.

(See Section 18)

1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons see the Bihar Gazette, Extraordinary, of the 6th April, 1956. [Governor's assent published in the Bihar Gazette, Extraordinary, dated the 7th July, 1961]

2. Now, Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006.