Six airbags to now become mandatory from October 1, 2023
Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, has announced that six airbags in passenger cars in India will now become mandatory from October 1, 2023. The earlier deadline for this was October 1, 2022.
Six airbags rule deferred
Gadkari stated that this one-year deferment in this ruling has been considered given the global supply chain constraints and the negative impact of this currently being faced by the auto industry in terms of chip shortages and resultantly long delivery periods.
Passive safety systems and their effectiveness have been a hot topic of discussion in India since the passing of Cyrus Mistry in a road accident recently. In response, the government has decided to enforce rear-seatbelt usage more effectively with rear seatbelt reminders to become standard fitment too soon. This is a good step to take before the six airbag rule is implemented given this significantly enhances the effectiveness of the extra airbags.
Six airbags rule India
A draft notification to make six airbags mandatory was approved in January 2022. Following this, all vehicles to be manufactured in India post-October 1, 2022 within the M1 category were to have six airbags as standard. The Motor Vehicles Act defines the M1 category as passenger vehicles that weigh less than 3.5 tonnes and can carry eight passengers excluding the driver. Gadkari first stated that such a step was in the works in August 2021.
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