Draft Notification on Six mandatory Airbags

Union government has started the process of making six airbags mandatory from October 1, 2022. Airbags will be made mandatory for all cars being sold in India.

Highlights

• Government issued a draft notification and asked for public comments and stakeholders’ comments on the proposed rule.
• This notification is a follow-up to appeal made by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on August 3, 2021, to car manufacturers for providing 2 airbags across all variants of vehicles, one for the driver and other for co-passenger in front seat.
• Rule for airbags for driver’s seat was made mandatory from July 1, 2019. Rule for one airbag for co-passenger came into effect from January 1, 2022.

GSR notification

Though, many Indian cars have six airbags in their top variants already. Now, government have approved a draft GSR notification for making minimum of 6 airbags compulsory. This decision was taken for minimising the impact of frontal and lateral collisions to the occupants seated in front as well as rear compartments.  4 additional airbags be mandated in M1 vehicle category.

M1 vehicle category refers

M1 vehicle category refers to passenger cars having a maximum of eight seats in addition to driver’s seat. It includes sedans, hatchbacks, MUVs and SUVs.