Time To Re-Tyre: Centre Makes 'Star Rating' Mandatory, Manufacturers Will Now Have To Offer India World-Class Rubber

In a move towards "star rating" of tyres, the government has proposed new model of tyres for better performance including safety enhancement from October this year in the country.

The manufacturers and importers of tyres for cars, mini bus and heavy vehicles will have to comply with the mandatory norms of rolling resistance for fuel efficiency, wet grip which defines the braking performance on wet stretches and rolling sound emission.

These norms are similar to the regime in Europe, which was rolled out in 2016. The Road Transport Ministry, in a draft notification, has proposed this regime for new model of tyres from October this year and for the existing models, the norms will be applicable from October 2022.

This move is also being seen as a step towards “star rating” of tyres in the country.

“The aim is to bring the best norms in. Most of the tyre manufacturers in India have global presence and they are complying with the best norms in European countries. So, it won’t be an issue at all,” said a senior Ministry official.

He added that the proposed mandatory compliance norms are primarily meant for safety and this will help vehicle owners take an informed decision while buying new tyres for their vehicles.

Welcoming the draft notification, experts in transport issues who have have been very actively espousing the mandatory requirement since 2016 maintained that this is a move towards consumer safety, fixing the accountability of importers and for fuel efficiency.

Though the mandatory marking of BIS benchmark quality for tyres is in vogue under Tyre Quality Control Order, it has not achieved the real objective of fixing the liability and accountability of tyre makers on failures and consequent mandatory recall mechanism at par with global regulations as enforced in the US, EU, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia.