The Union Government is contemplating on conducting annual surprise checks at the automobile original equipment manufacturers pan India to make sure that mandatory statutory norms stipulated in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules are obliged by the auto makers.
The Union Government is contemplating on conducting annual surprise checks at the automobile original equipment manufacturers pan India to make sure that mandatory statutory norms stipulated in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules are obliged by the auto makers.
Apparently, the initiative, which envisages new sets of vehicle inspection rules for testing agencies like the Automotive Research Association of India, comes in the wake of the recent incidence of General Motors' emissions data manipulation issue, which came to light only last month, forcing the Government to go stringent on the auto makers, according to an IE report.
A senior Government official told the daily's financial publication, FE that the move, contrary to the earlier practice of giving a ten day intimation to vehicle makers before official testing agencies visit for annual checks, will be changed. India is right now following the system that is based on European model.
The testing agencies will set up flying squad, which will visit the car manufacturers' plants without any official announcement. The official said that as it is there was no need for a change in the current laws, but a minor change in the inspection rules would do. 'At the moment, it is a goodwill gesture from our side to inform the auto makers that we are going to come on a specific date to inspect the plant and that seems to be not working. So, with a such a system in place, other auto makers flouting norms might as well be caught, the official added.
Current system
Under the current system, vehicle manufacturers initially apply for a type approval. Based on that the vehicle is sent to agencies such as ARAI for a thorough testing under CMVR yardsticks including mileage, emission control and safety standards of the vehicle. Secondly, there is this mechanism called Conformity of Production, where ARAI conducts random inspections from the final assembly lines for each model from every auto maker once in a year. In the second step, an estimated three vehicles were taken by the agency and tested to verify whether the production vehicle had met the originally declared yardsticks.
At the conclusion of the report, VG Ramakrishnan, Managing Director at Frost & Sullivan, South Asia was quoted as saying by the report that every auto maker would have to pay for the fault of one firm under such a system. Therefore, this would create increased regulatory framework involvement, which might not be to the liking of the automobile industry".
Apparently, the initiative, which envisages new sets of vehicle inspection rules for testing agencies like the Automotive Research Association of India, comes in the wake of the recent incidence of General Motors' emissions data manipulation issue, which came to light only last month, forcing the Government to go stringent on the auto makers, according to an IE report.
A senior Government official told the daily's financial publication, FE that the move, contrary to the earlier practice of giving a ten day intimation to vehicle makers before official testing agencies visit for annual checks, will be changed. India is right now following the system that is based on European model.
The testing agencies will set up flying squad, which will visit the car manufacturers' plants without any official announcement. The official said that as it is there was no need for a change in the current laws, but a minor change in the inspection rules would do. 'At the moment, it is a goodwill gesture from our side to inform the auto makers that we are going to come on a specific date to inspect the plant and that seems to be not working. So, with a such a system in place, other auto makers flouting norms might as well be caught, the official added.
Current system
Under the current system, vehicle manufacturers initially apply for a type approval. Based on that the vehicle is sent to agencies such as ARAI for a thorough testing under CMVR yardsticks including mileage, emission control and safety standards of the vehicle. Secondly, there is this mechanism called Conformity of Production, where ARAI conducts random inspections from the final assembly lines for each model from every auto maker once in a year. In the second step, an estimated three vehicles were taken by the agency and tested to verify whether the production vehicle had met the originally declared yardsticks.
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