On August 4, a notification was issued by the Road Transport and Highway Ministry, stating that manufacturing, storage and sale of non Indian standard (non-ISI) Helmets for two-wheelers will lead to arrest without warrant.
Surprisingly, Rajeev Kapur, President, Two Wheeler Helmet Manufacturers Association and MD of Steelbird added in the official press release that even the leading international brands who were exporting helmets to India as per European and US standard will now have to adhere to ISI standards. Otherwise, they will not be able to sell their products in the Indian market.
As per the procedure laid down by the Department of Consumer Affairs vide O.M. No. 6/5/2017-BIS (Pt.) dated 20.03.2018, the proposed Helmets (Quality Control) Order, 2018 was published, inviting comments from the general public and the stakeholders for a period of sixty (60) days.
We, as responsible citizen, wrote to Joint Secretary (Transport), Abhay Damle at the official e-mail (js-tpt@gov.in) and received a prompt reply. The response from the Joint Secretary Damle stated that the Ministry would consider the issues with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to arrive at an amicable solution. It further assured that the Ministry is only interested in removing the spurious and non-standard helmets from the country.
Read the official email below (open image in new tab):
We hope to hear more details in the coming weeks and will keep you posted with all the latest updates as and when they’re available. Stay tuned!