Government issues notification, ABS and CBS set to become a standard feature from 2018

Back in 2014, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) was considering the option of making safety features such as motorcycles and scooters in India with Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and combined brake system (CBS) mandatory for both motorcycles as well as scooters in India. Late last year, the ministry formulated a draft notification with regard to its norms and compliance. Now, MoRTH has issued a notification stating that ABS and CBS will be mandatory for all two-wheelers in India with effect from April 2018.

Equipping motorcycles and scooters in India with ABS will add to the safety aspect for riders in a country that witnessed 36,000 deaths related to on 2-wheeler in the year 2012. According to the new notification, two wheelers with a displacement of more than 125cc will have to install ABS as a standard feature whereas models with a displacement of 125 cc or less would have the option of either installing ABS or CBS.

Making ABS compulsory seems to be a good move in terms of safety as the roads in the country are more or less in a deplorable condition and will tend to deteriorate with the upcoming monsoon season. Currently, ABS is offered on limited models such as the Honda CBR 250R, KTM 390 series, TVS Apache 180 RTR and the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 with the latter receiving a single channel ABS (on the front wheel) while the rest receive a dual channel ABS. The CBS is seen only on models from Honda 2Wheelers at the moment.

The implementation of the rule is set to raise the overall cost of the motorcycle or scooter with ABS coming at a premium of approximately Rs. 25,000-30,000 while CBS will push the price upwards by about Rs. 5000-7,000, a hike that will be transferred to the customer.

Source: Autocar Professional