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In a move that will allow consumers make an informed decision on purchasing tyres, the Road Transport Ministry has proposed that tyres of cars, buses and trucks shall meet requirements of rolling resistance, wet grip and noise emission, a source from Road Ministry told BusinessLine .
Rolling resistance of tyres influence fuel efficiency, wet grip is related to the braking performance of tyres under wet conditions (that in turn impacts safety) and noise emission levels, explained the officer from Ministry. Markings on the tyres will start from October 1 this year. All tyres will be marked from October 1, 2022.
Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), which is a member of one of the technical committees in Consumer Affairs Ministry, said this is a pre-cursor to “star rating” of passenger vehicle tyres — that will eventually be done by Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
The Road Transport Ministry has issued a draft notification to bring in these norms for tyres with new variants in India with effect from October 1, 2021. From October 1, 2022, all tyres – including the existing variants – will carry the quantitative marking for tyres.
These have been finalised after taking inputs from various stakeholders like Technical Standard Committee of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, TED of BIS, Directorate General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; Petroleum Conservation and Research Association (PCRA), said IFTRT.
Additionally, the IFTRT has further urged Road Transport Ministry to enshrine provisions for mandatory tyre recall on product failure and legal liability to compensate road users for accidents caused by tyre bursts.
This can be done by making them a part of Motor Vehicle Amendment by following regulations that are similar to those in the USA in particular.
Existing quality norms
“Mandatory marking of BIS benchmark quality exists (under Tyre Quality Control Order, 2009) in the country with effect from May 13, 2011. But the use of existing Indian standards has not achieved the real objective of making tyre-makers accountable for tyre failures; fixing a liability on them; and setting a mandatory tyre recall mechanism at par with Global Regulations enforced in the US, EU, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia,” IFTRT’s Senior Fellow Surendra Pal Singh explained. BIS is India’s standard making body.
IFTRT is member of Transport Engineering Division (TED) of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Ministry of Consumer Affairs. IFTRT, since 2016, has been calling for mandatory need to bring Accountability and liability on tyre majors to label or emboss sidewalls of with information on fuel efficiency for all categories of tyres and curbing noise emission generated by tyres.
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