Safety of Passengers

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. Enforcement of provisions of CMV Act and CMV Rules comes under the purview of the state Governments/UTs.

All car companies are adhering to these prescribed standards in cars manufactured by them.

India is taking steps towards harmonization of national regulations of safety standards for passenger cars with United National Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) regulations. 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.

This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Shri G.M. Siddeshwara in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

ST/jk