No doubt, by now you’ve heard something about the upcoming ‘ban’ on non-ISI-marked two-wheeler helmets. But as a two-wheeler rider, is this going to affect your life? If you’re a law-abiding citizen and motorist, little will change for you. But perhaps your awareness of the issue needs an update.
What’s the law?
The law is quite clear: two-wheeler operators and pillions must wear an ISI-marked helmet on the vehicle, and traffic authorities are obliged to enforce this rule on the ground. The law also requires two-wheeler helmets to be certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) so that they may be allowed to use the ISI mark, indicating the helmet complies with the IS 4151 standard.
What’s IS 4151?
IS 4151 is the BIS standard that regulates the safety of a two-wheeler helmet sold in India. It’s based mostly on ECE 22.05 that’s used in Europe and a standard that’s widely considered to be comprehensive and safe. For ECE compliance, helmets must be tested by competent authorities before going on sale. While IS 4151 mirrors (and even exceeds) the ECE requirements, the BIS is not required to test helmets.
They only do spot checks to ensure that local helmet manufacturers are compliant and eligible for their (renewable) ISI mark licence.
What’s changing?
As per a press release that went out on August 5, on behalf of the Two Wheeler Helmet Manufacturers Association, sales of non-ISI-marked helmets will soon be a criminal offence, inviting arrest without warrant, two years jail time and over ₹2 lakh in fines, depending on whether it is a repeat offence. A time limit of 60 days was given for this to come into effect.
However, what has come from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is the “proposed Helmets (Quality Control) Order, 2018”, inviting comments from stakeholders.
It is not law just yet. If it comes into force, the BIS will be the certifying and enforcing authority, and hopefully, ramp up their vigilance and testing of products.
Why should I care?
If you currently ride a two-wheeler using an ISI-marked helmet, you’re on the right side of the law and will remain so.
However, this issue has thrown up an interesting factoid: your helmet doesn’t actually need to be tested to be ISI-compliant. Also, if you bought an expensive, international-quality helmet, it will eventually be illegal.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, has also been quoted as looking into whether Indian standards should be modified to make helmets lighter.
The proposed modifications are such that if they are put into effect, most international helmets will not be compliant, because they will be too heavy.
The end result of this notification will be that spurious helmets will be eliminated from the marketplace, with collateral damage to imported, high-quality helmets that more advanced riders already use. Hopefully, the Ministry will make relevant exemptions to ensure that imported helmets that exceed norms are allowed.
