Kerala MVD say dealer fitted mirrors on my bike are illegal. Now what?

I showed them the website, told them I got the bike with the mirrors from the dealer with the registration etc. But they were adamant that I am wrong.

BHPian ctjithinkrishna recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Recently I was stopped by the Kerala MVD while I was riding my RE Continental GT. They noticed my bar end mirrors which were installed by the dealer. I added them as an extra accessory while booking the bike. Hence I got the delivery of the bike from the dealer with the mirrors and number plate. So technically it shouldn’t be a modification. In addition, Royal Enfield claims that all their GMA items are fully homologated. The MVD officers argued that my mirrors were a modification and I am not allowed to ride with it. I showed them the website, told them I got the bike with the mirrors from the dealer with the registration etc. But they were adamant that I am wrong. They were not even listening. I went to my dealer after this, but they seem to be not knowing a whole lot about homologation. I even tried RE customer care with no use.

My question is, is there any document we can show the MVD in these situations?

Here's what BHPian Apex1815 had to say on the matter:

I am an homologation expert working in an Automobile Company (Heavy Earth moving Machinery) and can answer your query.

If the mirror is locally produced in India:

It is supposed to have an identification mark on the back side i.e housing in which the relevant Standard Eg AIS001 will be endorsed along with the certification no. granted by the Indian Test Agency like ARAI, VRDE etc.

If the mirror is imported by the OEM (Example from Europe):

It would generally have equivalent EU standard (ECE R 81) endorsed along with the relevant certification no. from the home country's test agency on the back side of the mirror housing.

In such case certification is granted by the Indian Test Agency based on the Technical details (Drawing, Specifications etc) submitted by OEM and no mirror testing is done (provided it fulfils all the criteria mention in CMVR and the relevant Test Standard i.e AIS001 in this case).

In case no certification mark is available on the mirror housing, it is not the homologated one.

Here's what BHPian RedTerrano had to say on the matter:

Did they challan you or take any other legal action? If not ignore them.

If yes, consult a lawyer and take the matter to court. In India, the onus of proving something is on the accuser (the MVD officers in this case). It will be interesting to see, how they could figure out by just looking, that your mirrors were not "legal".

In case, they do prove the illegality of the mirrors, then you can sue RE for false advertising.

PS. Is your vehicle registered outside KL by any chance?

BHPian ctjithinkrishna replied:

@RedTerrano: No they did not challan me. Yes, it is registered in Kerala.

@Apex1815:

I did check the mirrors. There are these following numbers:

• On the back of the mirror: L (E4) 000404
• On the stalk of the mirror: FuL (E9)026053

These doesn't look like the numbers you mentioned. So I checked the numbers in my original mirrors.

• On the back of the mirror up top: RVM0593-OODOT
• On the back of the mirror towards bottom: L (E4) 000251
• On the stalk of the mirror: Nothing

What do you think?

BHPian Apex1815 replied:

I will not get into detailed categorisation and interpretation. These are genuine mirrors. Next time you can show it to the cops but unfortunately they donot understand this (you may hear from them that any company can get it printed). That is all you can tell them.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

These are the component level type approval certification which make them qualify to be installed on a vehicle.

But the case here is not about the genuineness of the part, but about a modification that is done on a vehicle, which can only be proved with a vehicle level type approval certificate is my understanding.

BHPian Apex1815 replied:

Yes, the actual way of proving is that you show the Type Approval Certificate, but unfortunately a customer will not get such certificates from the OEMs.

Still if authorities (RTO) wants to confirm this they can do so by logging into E-Vahan portal. In E-Vahan portal OEMs upload CMVR certificate along with the the detailed Technical Specifications which is Annexure to the CMVR certificate. In the Technical Specifications, details of Component level TACs is also mentioned Eg Make, Type Approval Number etc.

In this particular case if the accessory is genuine it should have been detailed in annexure to the CMVR certificate. Unfortunately, these things are not known to the people and not even traffic police.

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