[RavenAvi]

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has made it mandatory for all passenger cars and mini buses to be fitted with ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) by April 2019.

In case of new models, the said rule will be effective from April 2018.

Global studies have indicated that ABS can help reduce the risk of crashes/accidents by over 20%, since they prevent the brakes from locking up when suddenly applied.

File2619.pdf

MORTH India

[dailydriver]

This measure was long overdue. Better late than never. Even today, most new car buyers are unaware of the benefits of ABS. The uninformed sales persons too actively dissuade customers from going for ABS variants saying it is not really required for Indian driving conditions. The money 'saved' is happily diverted for beautifying/ accessorising the new cars.

Despite the flak R C Bhargava received for his comments on safety features in cars, he was not too far off the mark. For most customers, a touch screen music system scores over ABS. The fate of (O) variants of MSIL cars being a case in point. With the Government making it mandatory for new cars to be equipped with ABS, one only hopes that the car manufacturers do not cut corners anywhere by following the law just in letter and ignoring the spirit.

[4x4addict]

Good move. I think manufacturers will try to fight this and lobby against this rule. And Bhargava will go to press, and explain why Indian's don't need safety features.

[y2ksrs]

Does this mean that vehicles that do not have ABS now, will have to retrofit ABS?

[PraNeel]

Originally Posted by y2ksrs

Does this mean that vehicles that do not have ABS now, will have to retrofit ABS?

Yes. The vehicle models which are available for sale will have to be equipped with ABS by 2019. For example Nano should have ABS if Tata wants to sell it in 2019.

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by y2ksrs

Does this mean that vehicles that do not have ABS now, will have to retrofit ABS?

Originally Posted by PraNeel

Yes. The vehicle models which are available for sale will have to be equipped with ABS by 2019. For example Nano should have ABS if Tata wants to sell it in 2019.

A clarification - Vehicles already sold and running on the road will not be retrofitted with ABS..

Currently selling models in the market have time till April 2019 to incorporate ABS.

New models which will be released in the market on or after April 2018 should have ABS

[NPV]

Good move, better late than never!
Looks like 2019 and later will be good times to buy new cars as all variants will come with ABS, Airbags and BS VI Emission norms the following year
I just hope with these moves, the manufacturers will completely stop (or be forced to stop) the practice of making basic safety features available only in higher/highest variants.

[samaspire]

A welcome move that has taken a long time to be implemented. But I feel that this is not enough. Why not go the whole hog; make EBD and 6 airbags also compulsory. Car makers will increase prices anyway and if the customer wants a car, he will pay whatever is demanded. It's not like cars are a basic necessity of life (Except, maybe for us ).

[MDED]

The current central government means business and I dont see the courts ruling in favor of automobile manufacturers, if any case was to be made against the mandatory implementation of ABS and other safety features. We are so late even in implementation of Bharat Stage norms in the buses plying on our city roads and run by the respective state governments.

Der aaye durust aaye.

[Mad Max]

Wait and see the auto lobby rename ABS as something else, establish the new name as the vehicle standard and get away with that technicality. Sorry, the skeptic juice is flowing high today.

[landcruiser123]

Good move by the government.

I think that most companies will beat that deadline as BNVSAP is coming before that and they'll want to claim that their cars are the safest. I'm sure almost all cars don't need to be redesigned to fit ABS.

[H_Dogg72]

Good times. Most cars now do offer it as optional or standard either way. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to be honest since there isn't any extra engineering involved for a simple abs system.

[deetjohn]

Should have come a few years ago actually, anyways glad its finally here. Govt. intervention is the only possible way due to the sensitivity in cost in the budget segments. Making it standard removes that equation and keeps it uniform across models.

Hope its a proper 4 channel ABS system! The notification just says Anti-lock Braking System. Sometimes, our manufacturers are too 'streetwise' for our own good and look at all possible avenues to save a few rupees on each model sold.

[extreme_torque]

Nice step but I wonder why the onus is only on the manufacturers and not on the government itself. More than ABS or Airbags, poor road design and quality and lax licensing rules are the biggest causes of fatality on Indian roads.

[haria]

Originally Posted by NPV

I just hope with these moves, the manufacturers will completely stop (or be forced to stop) the practice of making basic safety features available only in higher/highest variants.

it is not only manufacturers, but also the so called "informed" buyer who decides to skip this very essential (but provided optionally now) safety feature. Many of my colleagues who earn a very decent salary and can easily afford the 50 or 60k more which the ABS version costs, more often than otherwise, opt for some nonsensical accessory which the 50/60k will get them over going for an ABS version! The manufacturer just satisfies this need, rather than explaining the need for these safety features. I have seen many SAs (the so called experts in the auto showrooms) advice people that the ABS is not really needed for the common, sane driver - it is only needed for those speed junkies who go in triple digit speeds! This even gives a negative connotation to the ABS and one gentleman in his 50s in our office, decided to drop this (ABS) requirement, because the salesperson impressed on him so much that he felt that only rash and brash drivers require ABS and still insisting on ABS will make him look like that he was a bad driver

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Hope its a proper 4 channel ABS system! The notification just says Anti-lock Braking System. Sometimes, our manufacturers are too 'streetwise' for our own good and look at all possible avenues to save a few rupees on each model sold.

Ha. +1 to this. I really hope these notifications are spelled out clearly and with no room for ambiguity. Our laws and judgements generally gives a wide room for people to circumvent it. (Eg: the mania for <4m vehicles, for excise benefits,etc)