The Assam State Road Transport (Amendment) Act, 1955

ASSAM ACT X V III OF 1955
THE ASSAM STATE ROAD TRANSPORT (AMENDMENT)  
\ ACT, 1955
(Passed by the Assembly)
(Received the assent o f  the President on the 27th August 1955) " *
[Published in the Assam Gazette, dated the 7th September 1955]
An
Act
to amend the Assam State Road Transport Act, 1954
Whereas it is expedient to amend the Assam State Road Transport 
Act, 1954 (Assam Act X X X  of 1954) hereinafter called the Principal Act, 
for the purpose hereinafter appearing :
It is hereby enacted in the Sixth Year of the Republic of India as 
follows
1. Short title, extent and com m encem ent.— (1) This Act may be 
called the Assam State Road Transport (Amendment) Act, 1955.
(2) It shall have the like extent as the Principal Act.
(3) It shall come into force on the day on which the Principal Act 
comes into force.
2. Insertion o f new Sections to Assam  Act XX X o f 1954.— After 
Section 7 of the Principal Act the following new Sections shall be inserted, 
namely s —
“ 7A. Principles and m ethods o f determ ining com pensation.—  
(1) Where in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (dj of sub-section (1) 
of Section 7, the State Government or any officer or authority empowered by 
it in this behalf cancels any permit or modifies the terms thereof so as to (?) 
render ineffective beyond a specified date any permit or class of permits or 
( ? '? ') reduce and curtail the number of vehicles or routes covered by any 
permits ; there shall be paid by the State Government to the holder of the 
permit compensation, the amount of which shall be determined in the 
manner and in accordance with the principles hereinafter set out, that is to 
say,—
(а) where the amount of compensation can be fixed by agreement on
the scale specified in the Second Schedule it shall be paid in 
accordance with such agreement ;
(б) where no such agreement can be reached, the State Government
shall appoint as arbitrator a person who is, or has been, or 
qualified for appointment as, a judge of a High C o u rt;
(c) the State Government or the person to be compensated may, in 
any particular case, nominate a person having expert 
knowledge of the matter under consideration as an assessor 
to assist the arbitrator and where such nomination is made by 
either party, the other party may also nominate another 
person as assessor for the same purpose ;
(rf) at the commencement of the proceedings before the arbitrator, the 
State Government and the person to be compensated shall state 
what in their respective opinion is a fair amount of compensa­
tion :
[ Price:  2 as. or 2 d.]

£
( e '} the arbitrator shall, after hearing the dispute, make an award 
determining the amount of compensation which appears to 
him to be just and specifying the person or persons to whom 
such compensation shall be paid, and in making the award, he 
shall have regard to the circumstances of each case and the 
provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3), so far as they are 
applicable ;
( / )  where there is any dispute as to the person or persons who are 
entitled to the compensation, the arbitrator shall decide such 
dispute and if the arbitrator finds that more persons than one 
are entitled to compensation, he shall apportion the amount 
thereof amongst such persons ;
(«) nothing in the Arbitration Act, 1940 (X of 1940) shall apply to 
the arbitration under this section.
(2) Where in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (d) of sub-sec­
tion (1) of Section 7 any existing permit is cancelled or the terms thereof are 
modified so as to prevent the holder of the permit from using any vehicle 
authorised to be used thereunder for the full period for which the permit 
would otherwise have been effective, the amount of compensation payable 
to the holder of the permit on account of such cancellation or modification 
shall be a sum, if any, which is equal to the average net annual profit in 
relation to the vehicle multiplied by the unexpired period of the permit:
Provided that in no case, the amount of compensation shall be a sum 
which is less than the said average net annual profit.
(3) Where in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (d) of sub­
section (1) of Section 7 the terms of any existing permit are modified so as to 
curtail the route of any vehicle authorised to be used thereunder, the 
amount of compensation payable to the holder of the permit on account of 
such curtailment of the route shall be a sum, if any, which bears the same 
proportion to the compensation payable under sub-section (2) on account 
of the cancellation of the permit in relation to the vehicle as the length of 
the route curtailed bears to the total length of the route covered by the 
permit.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (I), no compen­
sation shall be payable on account of the cancellation of any existing permit 
or any modification of the terms thereof, when a permit for an alternative 
route in lieu thereof has been offered and accepted by the holder of the 
permit.
(5) The average net annual profit in relation to a vehicle authorised to 
be used under a permit shall be in accordance with the provisions of the 
third Schedule with reference to the profits, if any, which have accrued to 
the holder of the permit in relation to the vehicle in respect of that notified 
route during the period for which the permit (including any renewal there­
of ) was effective or the period of two years, immediately preceding the date 
on which the order under sub-section (1) of Section 7 was made, whichever 
is less.
7B. Payment of compensation.— The amount of compensation 
payable under an award shall be paid by the State Government to the per­
son or persons entitled thereto in such manner and within such time as may 
be specified in the award :
Provided that where the State Government fails to make the payment 
within the time specified in the award or agreement, it shall pay interest at 
the rate of 3| per cent, per annum from the date on which it falls due.
7C. Taking over of vehicles, etc.— Upon the cancellation of a per­
mit, the State Government shall, when the owner of the vehicle so desires

within a specified period, take over such vehicles held under the cancelled 
permit including spare-parts and other accessories as may be found in the 
opinion of the State Government in usable condition on payment of the 
value thereof determined in accordance with the provisions in sub-section
(2) The value of the vehicle, spare-parts and other accessories 
taken over under sub-section (1) shall be determined by the officer pres­
cribed as follows:—
(a) In respect of vehicle, the value will be the cost as at the date 
of transfer, of replacing the vehicle by a new vehicle of a simi­
lar type, less depreciation at the rate of 25 per cent, per annum 
on the declining values from the date of first registration with 
a margin of Rs.500 either way as an allowance for the con­
dition of the vehicle.
(A ) Spare-parts and new tyres and tubes would be valued at cost to 
the owner subject to a maximum of the market price obtaining 
at date of the transaction.
(c) Other assets taken over by the State would be valued by negotia­
tion.
7D. Appeal.— Any person aggrieved by the determination of the 
compensation under Section 7A or the determination of the value of vehicle, 
accessories, etc., under Section 7C may prefer an appeal within thirty days 
to the High Court of Assam and the decision of the appellate authority 
shall be final.”
3. Am endm ent of Section 10 o f Assam  Act X X X  o f 1954.— For 
sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the Principal Act the following shall be 
substituted, namely :—
“ (1) Where there is any conflict or inconsistency between the provi­
sions of this Act and the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 
1939 (Act No. IV of 1939) or any other law, then the provi­
sions of this Act shall prevail.”
4. Am endm ent o f Section 13 o f Assam  Act XX X o f 1954.—  
In clause (/> ) of sub-section (1) of Section 13 of the Principal Act for the 
word “ Schedule”  the words “ First Schedule” shall be substituted.
5. Insertion o f new schedule to Assam  Act X X X  o f 1954.—  
After Section 15 of the Principal Act the word “ Schedule”  shall be 
substituted by the words “ First Schedule” and after the said schedule the 
following shall be added, viz,—
SECOND SCHEDULE
[ See Section 7 A (1) (a) ]
1. Where in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (d) of sub-section 
(1) of Section 7 any existing permit is cancelled or the terms thereof 
are modified so as to prevent the holder of the permit from using any 
vehicle authorised to be used thereunder for the full period for which the 
permit would otherwise have been effective, the amount of compensation 
payable to the holder of the permit on account of such cancellation 
or modification shall be a sum which, if the unexpired period of the 
p erm it;

4
(a} exceeds 24 months, is equal to a sum of Rs.1,000 ;
(b) exceeds 12 months, but does not exceeds 24 months is equal 
to the sum of Rs. 700 ;
(c) exceeds 6 months but does not exceed 12 months is equal to a
sum of Rs. 400 ;
(d) does not exceed 6 months, is equal to a sum of Rs. 200.
2. Where in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (d) of sub-section 
(1) of Section 7 the terms of any existing permit are modified so as to curtail 
the route of any vehicle authorised to be used thereunder, the amount of 
compensation payable to the holder of the permit on account of such cur­
tailment of the route shall be a sum which bears the same proportion to 
the compensation payable under paragraph 1  on account of the cancellation 
of the permit in relation to the vehicle as the length of the route curtailed 
bears to the total length of the route covered by the permit.
TH IR D  SCHEDULE
[ See Section 7 A (5) ]
The average net annual profit in relation to a vehicle authorised to be 
used under a permit in respect of a notified route shall be calculated as 
follows:—
1. The amount of profits made during a period of two years or during 
the period for which the permit (including any renewal thereof) was effec­
tive, whichever is less, shall be ascertained and the amount of losses sustained 
during the same period shall also be ascertained.
2. If there are no profits or if the amount of the profits does not exceed 
the amount of the losses, the average net annual profit shall be taken to 
be nil.
3. If the amount of the profits exceeds the amount of the losses, the 
excess shall be the net profits.
4. From the net profits so found, the amount of profits for one year shall 
be ascertained by mathematical calculation and such profit shall be taken to 
be the average net annual profit.
A. G . P. (Leg.) No.52/55—1550—5-12-1955.

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