Last week, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari approved the draft notification for Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (BNCAP), a safety rating system for passenger cars. Once implemented, this will pave the way for “star ratings” of new car models sold in India – much the same way air-conditioners and a few other consumer appliances get rated based on their energy efficiency standards.
BNCAP is designed to offer an assessment of crash safety performance of cars based on laboratory tests according to the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS).
What is BNCAP and how is car safety currently assessed?
BNCAP is