As per the latest headlines, all new two-wheelers to be manufactured in the country must possess either ABS or CBS. All new two-wheelers that are being manufactured from April 2018 are being registered at the regional transport offices (RTOs) across the state of the country, beginning with Maharashtra and as per a new legal policy they must come equipped with ABS i.e. advanced braking systems. Soon enough this will apply to all the states in India. What’s more is that all existing two-wheeler systems must be fitted with this technology as per the legal mandate before the beginning of the next financial year.
This regulation has been passed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which has announced that the technology of anti-lock braking system (ABS) must be fitted in all new two-wheelers manufactured from April 1, 2018 onwards, in models that have a capacity higher than 125 cc. for two-wheelers launched that have capacity below the mentioned metrics, should come with CBS i.e. combined braking systems.
This regulation was first announced by the ministry’s notification dated on March 16, 2016. The notification further entails that all existing two wheelers must come equipped with these advanced braking systems be it ABS or CBS within the next fiscal year beginning from April 2019.
The anti-braking system, i.e. ABS prevents brakes from locking up even when they are suddenly applied while driving on a slippery road. While the CBS technology, i.e. the combined braking system distributes the pressure applied on the rear wheel to the front wheel, thus reducing the chances of accidents. While these are positive developments that will uplift the traffic safety of riders and prevent brake related accidents from happening, the only downside to this is that people will now have shell out a higher amount for purchasing a new two-wheeler model.
The additional transport commissioner, Satish Sahastrabuddhe, spoke on the matter saying, “We have issued an instruction for RTOs asking them to ensure fitting of the braking system in newly manufactured bikes.” But the RTO officials have stated that no notification has been officially received by them on the matter from the transport commissioner.
As per a distinguished mechanic from Thane, who has been working on two-wheelers for a long time an additional fitting of the ABS will only cost around INR 500 – 600 for those who already own a two-wheeler with a disk braking system. However, for models without a disk brake the price of installing a new ABS braking system will cost around INR 6,000 or more.
Having said that, while the policy has passed, but RTO officials stated that they still do not have any set methods of checking if a two-wheeler has the ABS or CBS system installed or not. While most commercial vehicles like cabs and trucks must mandatorily visit the RTO annually to check for fitness renewal, but two-wheelers do not have any such compulsion.
As per stats, out of a total of 3.14 crore vehicles in Maharashtra, .3 crore are two-wheelers based on the state economic survey. Also, data suggests Mumbai alone has more than 18 lakh two-wheelers as calculated within January 2018. Most RTO officials see this as a big challenge to completing the ABS installation.
