Regulations for Bharat New Car Assessment Programme BNCAP

In News

• Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification on Regulations for Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (BNCAP).

Image Courtesy: ET 

Key Points

• It proposed to  insert a new rule 126E in CMVR (Central Motor Vehicles Rules), 1989 regarding the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP). 
• BNCAP states automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests.
• The following has been proposed:-
  • It is applicable on Type Approved motor vehicles of category M1 [motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers, comprising eight seats, in addition to the driver’s seat]. 
    • With gross vehicle weight less than 3.5 Tonnes, manufactured or imported in the country, in accordance with the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS)-197, as amended from time to time.  
    • The standard is  aligned with global benchmarks: it is beyond minimum regulatory requirements.
  • Rating: 
    • Bharat NCAP rating will provide consumers an indication of the level of protection offered to  occupants by evaluating the vehicle in the areas of:
      • Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) 
      • Child Occupant Protection (COP) and
      • Safety Assist Technologies (SAT). 
    • The vehicle shall be assigned a star rating from one to five stars , based on  scoring against  various tests undertaken as per AIS 197.
  • The testing of  vehicles for this program will be carried out at  Testing Agencies, with the necessary infrastructure, referred to in Rule 126 of CMVR 1989.
  •  Date of Applicability: 1st day of April 2023.

Significance

• The new regulations  introduces the concept of safety rating of passenger cars and empowers  consumers to take informed decisions. 
• It will promote export worthiness of the cars produced by OEMs in the country and increase the domestic customer’s confidence in these vehicles . 
• Additionally the program will encourage manufacturers to provide advanced safety technologies to earn higher ratings.
• It will serve as a consumer-centric platform while promoting a healthy competition among OEMs in India to manufacture safer vehicles.

Challenges 

• Testing infrastructure: such large scale testing will require bigger infrastructure for the same.
• Funding: to implement it successfully and in an expedited manner, budgetary support will be required.
• Lower Allocation to Transport infrastructure: Major cities in India have dedicated hardly 6-10% (barring Delhi, which has allocated almost 20% to transport infrastructure) of their total land allocation to the construction of transport infrastructure, which has led to inadequate transport infrastructure in the cities with reference to the population and its requirements.

Way Ahead

• The testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall be aligned with Global Crash Test Protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing OEMs to get their vehicles tested at India’s own  in-house testing facilities.
• Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile  industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the Number 1 automobile hub in the world.

Source: PIB