Bharat NCAP: India gets its own car crash testing programme

Source: The post is based on the article “Bharat NCAP: India gets its own car crash testing programme”  published in The Hindu on 23rd August 2023.

What is the News?

The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways has launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP).

What is Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP)?

Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) is a novel safety assessment initiative introduced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Aim: To provide a tool to the car customers to make a comparative assessment of crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market.

The programme is modeled on the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP), a project of the Towards Zero Foundation which is a U.K.-registered charity that promotes the universal adoption of the United Nation’s most important motor vehicle safety standards worldwide.

Applicable to: The  programme will be applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kg. 

– The programme will be based on the soon-to-be published Automotive Industry Standard 197, which lays down testing protocols.

Rating: A rating from one star to five stars will be assigned to a vehicle after an evaluation of three parameters — adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, and safety assist technologies present in the car.

Voluntary programme: The programme is voluntary except in certain cases such as a base variant of a popular vehicle model (minimum clocked sale of 30,000 units), or when the Ministry recommends a model for testing based on market feedback or in the interest of public safety.

What is the significance of Bharat NCAP Programme?

Bharat NCAP serves as a consumer-centric platform enabling car buyers to make safer choices based on the star ratings of vehicles. 

It also encourages healthy competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India to produce safer vehicles. 

Globally, road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death, particularly among individuals aged 15 to 49 years. Annually, approximately 1.3 million lives are lost due to road traffic accidents. 

The program aims to address this issue, given that over 90% of these fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries. India holds a significant portion of these fatalities accounting for about 11% of global road traffic deaths.