A committee constituted by Ministry of Road Transport &
Highway (MORTH), Government of India, for creating a New Car Assessment
Programme (NCAP) on the lines of the Global NCAP has decided that test
facilities for Indian vehicles to carry out crash tests should be ready in all
respects by December 2015.The Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme
(BNVSAP) Phase-I implementation is to follow this time line, the committee said.
Giving this information, Minister of State in the Ministry
of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, G.M. Siddeshwara in a written reply
in Lok Sabha on December 23, 2015 noted that at the committee meeting it was
also decided that compliance as per crash standards AIS 098 and AIS 099 shall
be mandatory for the new vehicles from October 1, 2017. In case of existing
vehicles, the same will apply from October 1, 2019.
The committee was constituted by MORTH on March 25, 2014 and
the above decisions were taken at a meeting held on December 3, 2014. In fact,
the committee was constituted by the government after the Global NCAP had given
a presentation in Delhi, in which they proved that some of the cars
manufactured in India, when subject to Offset Crash Test through crash test,
are not safe.
Meanwhile, the Minister also maintained that all car
companies in the country are adhering to prescribed safety standards in cars
manufactured by them. There is provision
under Rule 126 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989(CMVR) that every
manufacturer of motor vehicles other than trailers and semi-trailers requires
to submit the prototype of the vehicle to be manufactured by him for test by
any of the agencies specified therein for granting a certificate to the
compliance of the provisions of the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and
Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. Rule 126A of CMVR requires the test agencies,
referred to in Rule 126, to also conduct tests on vehicles drawn from the
production line of the manufacturer to verify whether these vehicles conform to
the provisions of Rules made under Section 110 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
The Minister informed the house that India is taking steps
towards harmonisation of national regulations of safety standards for passenger
cars with United National Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) regulations. The
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has formed a dedicated panel for
introducing safety features in new vehicles under ‘Bharat New Vehicle Safety
Assessment Programme’ which will be voluntary from October, 2017 and mandatory
by October, 2020.