The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has announced its decision to make passenger-side airbags mandatory on new cars. The MortH announced in a gazette notice the new rule that requires all new vehicles to have dual frontal airbags as standard equipment as of April 1, 2021. Existing vehicles also must be sold with dual airbags from August 31, 2021.
Ministry has issued Gazette notification regarding mandatory provision of an airbag for passenger seated on front seat of a vehicle, next to driver. This has been mandated as an important safety feature & is also based on suggestions of Supreme Court Committee
on Road Safety pic.twitter.com/JALS5rzHmG
— PIBIndiaMoRTH (@PIBMoRTH) March 5, 2021
The notice also indicated that the mandate was an important safety feature and is also based on suggestions from the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety. Road safety advocates have long advocated the need for front dual airbags, and they will be extremely useful on entry-level cars that often lose a safety feature in the basic trim. However, the prices of these variants are expected to experience a marginal revision as a result.
The notification further stated that the airbag must comply with AIS 145 as specified by the Bureau of Standards of India (BIS).
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