India road ministry issues draft rules for mandatory rear seat belt alarms

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued draft rules to make it mandatory for car makers to install an alarm system for rear passenger seat belts.

The government’s proposal came after the recent death of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry in a car accident. It was said that Mistry was in the rear seat without wearing a seat belt.

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“Seat belt alarms will be mandatory in M and N category vehicles, and vehicles will have audio-video warning if seat belts are not worn. Along with this, overspeed alarms will become mandatory, too,” the draft notification stated.

M or N category vehicles in India are classified as: light-duty vehicles (passenger cars and vans), or heavy-duty vehicles (trucks, buses, and coaches).

At present, it is mandatory for all vehicle manufacturers to provide seat belt reminders for front-seat passengers.

Although rear seat passengers not wearing a seat belt attract a fine of Rs 1,000 under Rule 138 (3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), most people are either unaware of it or just ignore it.

Recently, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari announced that previously only driver and front-seat co-passenger were fined for not wearing seatbelt, but now the law has been updated to include penalty for rear seat passengers as well.