Rear-seat passengers are required to wear seat belts by law. Failing to do so can attract a fine of Rs 1,000.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has issued a draft notification that mandates all cars manufactured from April 1, 2025, to have a ‘rear seat belt alarm’.

The ministry had issued a draft notification regarding the same earlier. The government had mandated 3-point rear seat belts, a rear seat belt alarm and 6 airbags, following the death of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry. However, the notification lapsed after the proposal for the mandatory fitment of 6 airbags could not go through.

According to a government official, the latest notification is only for the rear seat belt alarm and there is no other new provision.

Rear-seat passengers are required to wear seat belts by law. Failing to do so can attract a fine of Rs 1,000 under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Rear seat occupants can be fined Rs. 1,000 for not wearing the seatbelt by law, but the rule is rarely enforced.

The fatal accident involving the former Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry has brought to light the importance of wearing seatbelts once again. Mistry was travelling in the rear seat of a Mercedes-Benz GLC, which crashed into a divider near Mumbai earlier this week. It is said that he was not wearing the seatbelt, which led to serious head injuries.

In the light of this unfortunate incident, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, has indicated that the government could soon make wearing seatbelts mandatory for rear occupants.

Gadkari stated that he plans to introduce seat belt reminders (SBR) for rear seats. At present, most cars have SBR for the front seats, or at least for the driver’s seat. He also confirmed that there would be penalty for not wearing seatbelts in the rear seats.

The government is yet to reveal the timeframe for the introduction of the new regulations.

Source: ET Auto

While removing the carpeting, I noticed a wire and connector poking out from under the driver seat.

BHPian greenhorn recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

One of the things I've been doing slowly over the years is adding DLX features on my Indica DLG. While removing the carpeting, I noticed a wire and connector poking out from under the driver seat. Curious about what it did, i tried shorting the pins together (Do not try this at home kids, you may blow up a fuse or worse, burn down your car. This DIY was done under controlled conditions under the supervision of an equally curious mechanic).

And guess what? The seat belt warning light lit up! After all these years it was just waiting there for someone to enable it.

Boodmo didn't have the correct part (from the Indica/Indigo DLX) but there was a Tiago part that looked suspiciously similar. I got the help of another BHPian who had a Tiago to check the dimensions of the Tiago buckle, and they looked close enough.

My mechanic did the actual fitting part, and he said he had to do a little bit of cutting/shutting so I'm not going to claim any diy here, but it's working.

I'm probably the only one going to so much trouble enabling the seat belt alarm in a car, when so many people are trying to disable it with fake latches.

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