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Fuel-efficiency norms coming into force on April 1 this year are not all that they are touted to be, according to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The rules, under which the average fuel-efficiency of cars is set to rise to about 18 km a litre, are not stringent enough, the organisation has said.
Concessions to car industry
Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director-Research and Advocacy, CSE, said, “The proposed compliance rules have allowed for a number of concessions to the car industry. If this is not addressed immediately, it can undermine the programme.” The fuel efficiency norms—also called Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards—do not pertain to the efficiency of each model from a car maker’s stable, but the average of all the models;thus giving manufacturers enough wiggle room.
Mild hybrids
Given the nature of CAFÉ standards, Roychowdhury said, brownie points are given for technologies such as mild diesel hybrid, which improve fuel efficiency slightly, but not in lines of true hybrids, defeating the purpose of the rules.
Objecting to the concession given to mild hybrids, which already enjoy incentives under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electrical Vehicles (FAME) programme and excise duty cuts, CSE said this was “a regressive step that undercuts the ongoing effort to control dieselisation.”
The rules also allow manufacturers to enjoy points for measures such as tyre pressure monitoring system, speed transmission, real-time fuel economy indicator and others.
“These are not effective to help either innovation or mitigation. For example, fuel economy indicators have nothing to do with real mitigation and are too dependent on driver behaviour,” CSE said.
No penal provisions
While the norms for fuel efficiency are set tocomeinto force in phases — more stringent norms increasing fuel efficiency to 20 km per litre will come in 2022 — there is nothing in the rules on penalising companies for noncompliance.
“All that the proposed rules require for non-compliance is to submit a catch-up plan for the reporting period following the previous default year. If manufacturers fail even in the third consecutive year, the designated agency will have to report them to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. There is nothing beyond reporting,” CSE said.
The rules givemorespace to car makers by allowing several manufacturers to form a pool to work out the corporate average and comply with the targets. This could potentially allow large luxury car makers to pool with manufacturers producing small fuel-efficient cars to show compliance
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