Chapter XIII — Offences, Penalties And Procedure
Section 200 — Composition of certain offences
Written and checked byManju Shekhar· Motor Law & Compliance· Updated 10 October 2026
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Act 59 of 1988)
Text of the section
Composition of certain offences.—(1) Any offence whether committed before or after the commencement of this Act punishable under section 177, section 178, section 179, section 180, section 181, section 182, sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 183, section 184, section 186,1[section 189, sub-section (2) of section190]; section 191, section 192, section 194, section 196 or section 198 may either before or after the institution of the prosecution, be compounded by such officers or authorities and for such amount as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf. (2) Where an offence has been compounded under sub-section (1), the offender, if in custody, shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against him in respect of such offence.
Reproduced from the India Code text of the Act. Bracketed superscript numerals are the official footnote markers for earlier amendments.
Amended by the 2019 Amendment Act
In section 200 of the principal Act,— (i) in sub-section (1),— (a) for the words, figures and brackets “punishable under section 177, section 178, section 179, section 180, section 181, section 182, sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 183, section 184, section 186, section 189, sub-section (2) of section 190, section 191, section 192, section 194, section 196, or section 198,”, the words, brackets, figures and letters “punishable under section 177, section 178, section 179, section 180, section 181, section 182, sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 182A, section 182B, sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 183, section 184 only to the extent of use of handheld communication devices, section 186, section 189, sub-section (2) of section 190, section 192, section 192A, section 194, section 194A, section 194B, section 194C, section 194D, section 194E, section 194F, section 196, section 198,” shall be substituted; (b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:— "Provided that the State Government may, in addition to such amount, require the offender to undertake a period of community service."; (ii) after sub-section (2), the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:— “Provided that notwithstanding compounding under this section, such offence shall be deemed to be a previous commission of the same offence for the purpose of determining whether a subsequent offence has been committed: Provided further that compounding of an offence will not discharge the offender from proceedings under sub-section (4) of section 206 or the obligation to complete a driver refresher training course, or the obligation to complete community service, if applicable.”. 87.
This is the amending instruction from the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 32 of 2019), quoted verbatim. Read it together with the text above — the consolidated version is the section as it reads once these changes are applied.
Amended by the Jan Vishwas Act, 2026 — in force from 15 August 2026
(ZP) In section 200, in sub-section (1), for the portion beginning with the words and figures “punishable under section 177” and ending with the word and figures “section 201”, the following shall be substituted, namely:— “punishable under section 180, section 181, sub-section (1) of section 182, sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 182A, sub-section (1) of section 183, clause (c) of the Explanation to section 184, section 189, second or subsequent offence under clause (i) of sub-section (2) of section 190, second or subsequent offence under section 192, sub-section (3) of section 192B, second or subsequent offence under section 194E, and clause (b) of section 198.”.
Amending instruction from the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 (No. 8 of 2026), Schedule entry 51, quoted verbatim. It took effect for the Motor Vehicles Act on 15 August 2026 under S.O. 4100(E), 24 July 2026. Where it conflicts with the text above, this later change prevails.
Before you rely on this. The base text above is the Act as consolidated by the India Code, which predates the 2019 amendment; 2019 and 2026 changes are shown separately rather than merged in. Later amendments may also apply. For anything official, read the current text on the e-Gazette or the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways site.
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