Six Airbags Need Not to be Mandatory: Nitin Gadkari

Government assumes that the upcoming BNCAP will automatically push automakers to equip their cars with 6 airbags to achieve 4 or 5 stars.

In a recent development Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Mr. Nitin Gadkari has stated that there is no need to make it mandatory for automakers to equip their cars with 6 airbags. The statement comes just a couple of weeks before the pre-announced deadline for mandatory 6 airbags i.e. 1st October, 2023. However the mandatory six airbag deadline is now cancelled and taken over by the Introduction of BNCAP that is set to launch on 1^st October this year.

Mr. Gadkari claimed that as BNCAP is going to test the crash worthiness of cars and rate them on the basis of safety performance, manufactures will automatically be forced to equip their cars with higher number of airbags to get that 4 and 5 stars. He said that all the car makers, barring one which he didn’t name though, had already accepted the norm to fit cars with 6 airbags. He also said that people are cautious, whatever cars have six airbags, people may prefer to take that car. It’s up to the manufacturer and people to decide.

Last year the Minister had pushed the automakers to equip their cars with six airbags and even a draft notification was published in January, 2022 as well which set the deadline on 1^st October, 2022. Later the deadline was extended for one year after strong opposition from the industry particularly from Suzuki, which had cited affordability concerns for its entry-level models.

Now that the six airbags mandate is scraped, and the complete responsibility is given to BNCAP for safety of passengers in cars. It is important to note that it is not compulsory for automakers to send their cars for crash test and the tests are going to be voluntary. So it will not be an obligation for automakers to prioritize the safety of passengers in their cars. Public awareness will play an important role in pushing the automakers to go for the voluntary BNCAP tests and offer six airbags as standard on their cars.

Going by the sales statistics of cars in India it is quite evident that car buyers still don’t give first priority to safety and the decision of taking back six airbags mandate is like a step backward.