[dZired]

The transport ministry has decided to randomly pick cars from dealerships to check whether or not they comply with the company certified emission specifications. Under this new practice, at least 50% of the sample cars used for emission tests will be collected from randomly picked dealers. Under the current testing system, the government gets majority of the cars for testing from factories, while just 25% are taken from dealers.

The aforementioned step is being taken after repeated cases came to light, where automotive manufacturers were found fudging emission claims. Volkswagen's infamous Dieselgate scandal was one of several recent instances where manufacturers have been noticed using illegal practices to come up with false laboratory emission results, while their cars produced higher emissions than certified. India too saw a major emission scandal when Chevrolet was found guilty of sending pre-tested Taveras for government emission tests, as the company officials knew that many production models will fail the test. Testing random cars taken from dealers reduces the chances of such manipulation on part of the manufacturers.

In addition to the randomly picking cars, the transport ministry is working on a procedure that will help in collecting real-time emission data from cars plying on the roads. Presently, emission testing fully relies on laboratory tests, and there are no standards for on-road vehicles.

Government testing agencies usually test a sample of cars to certify a specific model. The number of vehicles used in the testing sample is normally equal to its average daily production in one fiscal year.

Source: Times of India

Link to Team-BHP News

[alpha1]

I think Govt needs to realize a more important thing.

Just as the public does not trust the dealers and car makers for keeping their promises and contracts, the public trust the Govt officials and "inspectors" even less.

[shadows123]

Looks like a new way to collect bribe from dealers. Though the intent is good, whats interesting would be whether govt can enforce honest reporting.

[GTO]

An excellent move. Sampling cars at the dealer's end is the best way to prevent fraud. Am sure the VW scam triggered this thought. Many car makers cheat and that's a fact. It's also the reason why organisations like 'Consumer Reports' (who I highly respect) buy their review cars anonymously from dealerships.

Originally Posted by alpha1

the public trust the Govt officials and "inspectors" even less.

Originally Posted by shadows123

whats interesting would be whether govt can enforce honest reporting.

What do you want? A no-government country like Somalia or Western Sahara? Get some fresh air, guys. Just because we have corruption doesn't mean that we stop law & order in this country. There are still many things done right in India, and that's why we are among the best countries in this part of the world.

Going forward, let this discussion focus on the random tests. We have other threads to talk about corruption.

[Durango Dude]

I think the Govt needs to randomly check it's State owned Transport Corporation Buses & Garbage Trucks first as these are the worst polluters. Govt is the biggest polluter!

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by dZired

Under this new practice, at least 50% of the sample cars used for emission tests will be collected from randomly picked dealers.

In addition to this, the OEMs should be asked to mandatorily mention the certified FE and emissions for all variants in the promotional material. AFAIK, currently in India, the OEMs mention the highest FE rating, which is not true for all variants.

[PraNeel]

Originally Posted by shadows123

Looks like a new way to collect bribe from dealers. Though the intent is good, whats interesting would be whether govt can enforce honest reporting.

Everything has loop holes but if implemented correctly and strictly the intended results can be achieved. I am happy atleast govt is thinking about these aspects and working on them.

[FourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by GTO

Many car makers cheat and that's a fact. It's also the reason why organisations like 'Consumer Reports' (who I highly respect) buy their review cars anonymously from dealerships.

Does Consumer Reports also check for emission levels of new cars ?

From what I'm reading, I think not ...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cars/...ts-tests-cars/

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/a...ings/index.htm

If they did, I guess that would be the ideal state.

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

[anurag.somani]

Good for the environment, good for the consumers, good for the industry (in the long run).
Pollution impacts many lives in India, the first step in the right direction is to be honest about the problem.

[RSR]

I welcome picking up cars from random dealers! That's how NCAP organisations around the world perform crash tests.

Originally Posted by dZired

In addition to the randomly picking cars, the transport ministry is working on a procedure that will help in collecting real-time emission data from cars plying on the roads. Presently, emission testing fully relies on laboratory tests, and there are no standards for on-road vehicles

However, the above (i.e. real time emissions data collected from on-road testing, not mere laboratory tests) is even more important! I suspect that a lot of vehicles that drink the dirty fuel will face problems clearing the on-road emission tests.

I doubt if on-road emissions testing will ever become a reality in India. The diesel lobby in India is far, far too influential to allow such a welcome measure to be put in place.

Even the European diesel lobby is miserably begging European regulators to give diesel vehicles a "conformity factor" (in other words, much reduced standards) when Europe switches over to real-time on-road emissions testing.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by GTO

What do you want? A no-government country like Somalia or Western Sahara? Get some fresh air, guys. Just because we have corruption doesn't mean that we stop law & order in this country. There are still many things done right in India, and that's why we are among the best countries in this part of the world.

I didn't say the move is not good. But my point was a far greater one about pollution in general - if Govt is serious about pollution then catching those that pollute at 5.1 ppm level instead of 5 ppm will hardly make a difference.

We have all seen and known about public transport vehicles.
We also know about other sources of pollution supposedly under Pollution Control Boards.
We definitely know about calibrations done by Pollution Under Check centers.
And the fuel quality is always prime.

Of course any kind of random checks are great. But is the problem being solved or are we only interested in pretending to give an appearance of solving the problem (the way most things are handled in corporates and politics)?


This will surely reduce the problem of manufacturers fudging with emission figures by sending a different vehicle for testing compared to the one that is being sold in the market.

[centaur]

I just hope that fearing this, the manufacturers dont manipulate the emissions for all cars. In that case, the entire effort will go down the drain

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by GTO

An excellent move. Sampling cars at the dealer's end is the best way to prevent fraud. Am sure the VW scam triggered this thought. Many car makers cheat and that's a fact.

I am not too hopeful if VW kind of frauds can be prevented by such measures. Whether the car is picked from factory or dealer it hardly matters as it was the on-board ECU that detected the OBD connection for emission testing. These types of cheats can be stopped by strict enforcement and exemplary punishments.