Nitin Gadkari says govt will not make six airbags mandatory for cars

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari | Illustration: Moneycontrol

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on September 13 said the government "won't make six airbag rule for cars mandatory."

The clarification from Gadkari came while he was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA).

The government last year proposed to implement the six airbags safety norm from October 2023 for enhanced safety of occupants.

"We don't want to make six airbags rule for cars mandatory," Gadkari said.

According to the minister, the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (BNCAP) requires cars to be embedded with six safety airbags in order to achieve 5-star ratings. This will "automatically push companies to offer 6 airbags as standard without the need for making them mandatory," automobile news magazine Autocar Professional quoted him as saying.

However, the transport ministry had last year said that the six airbags rule would be mandatory for eight-seater cars. The rule was to come into effect from October 1, 2022, but was deferred by one year before its implementation.

While announcing the deferment last year, Gadkari had pointed towards the "global supply chain constraints being faced by the auto industry" and its impact on the "macroeconomic scenario".

Notably, car manufactures are required to mandatorily install airbags for driver seat from July 2019, and for the co-passenger seat from January 2022.

Certain automakers Moneycontrol spoke to last year said they were opposed the rule to make six airbags mandatory in vehicles and maintained that it will add to the cost burden on the customers looking for cars in the entry-level segment. The engineering head of a car-making firm had said on condition of anonymity that when this rule comes into place, an entry-level car would cost an additional Rs 17,000 to the customer.