Vehicles without insurance could be denied fuel at Madhya Pradesh petrol pumps

The state of Madhya Pradesh is set to introduce a pilot project that may deny fuel to vehicles without valid insurance at petrol pumps, as the government aims to enhance road safety through technology and expand its Zero-Fatality District program to nine districts. The decision to initiate the uninsured-vehicle pilot was made during a meeting chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre, who serves as chairman of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety.

The district with the highest number of uninsured vehicles will be chosen for the pilot, which involves installing cameras at petrol pumps, linked to the VAHAN portal, to identify vehicles without valid insurance and prevent them from receiving fuel. Justice Sapre emphasized that the pilot should be launched as soon as possible following discussions with officials from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and technical experts.

If successful, the system could be rolled out in other districts in stages. This initiative seeks to enforce insurance requirements beyond traditional traffic checks, making insurance a prerequisite for accessing fuel. The Supreme Court had previously proposed integrating automatic number-plate recognition cameras with VAHAN and insurance databases to electronically identify uninsured vehicles.

Additionally, the meeting decided to expand the Zero-Fatality District program from six to nine districts in Madhya Pradesh, with Indore, Bhopal, and Ujjain joining the existing districts of Dhar, Satna, Rewa, Sagar, Jabalpur, and Khargone. Despite a reduction in road accident fatalities in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, Madhya Pradesh continues to face a significant challenge, with an average of around 13,000 road accident deaths annually.

The government aims to further decrease fatalities in 2026 compared to previous years. Justice Sapre stressed the importance of community involvement in preventing road accidents, urging the formation of local committees and encouraging community participation with incentives. The meeting also highlighted the need for specific action plans to address accidents caused by stray animals and other factors, with clear timelines for implementation.

The state government will allocate necessary funds for the Zero-Fatality District program, while community-driven initiatives and technological solutions will also be employed. Emergency response times are another focus, with authorities seeking to further reduce the average time taken to transport accident victims to hospitals in urban areas from 16 minutes.