2014 began as a tough year for the Indian economy, and industry in general. The economy was in the doldrums. The mood amongst industry, and even the general public was sombre, as the future didn’t look too rosy. An ineffective government, with a puppet leading the pack, didn’t help matters. And worse was the complete lack of any kind of clarity in policy. Naturally, then, the automotive sector suffered – with sales volume actually falling over the past couple of years. The overall mood improved with a new government in office. The initial signs have been positive, with policy and the path ahead being far clearer than before – if not completely transparent. One of the big draws from an automotive perspective has been the new Motor Vehicles Act draft, which has been released in the public domain for consultations. It addresses a lot of valid points, such as drunken driving, which now face huge financial penalties and even jail time. In addition, there are also large penalties for vehicles plying without valid insurance. Some work is also being performed on the commercial vehicle front as well, which is important since these vehicles are involved in the majority of fatal accidents on our roads. The issues that the government needs to study, however, is the implementation of these policies – as our police force remains shoddily under equipped to effectively implement these policies. The second aspect is that of vehicular safety, which has come to the fore with the recent Global NCAP crash tests. With the results becoming public, they’ve become a big point of contention. Over the past 12 months, I’ve written extensively on the subject – so I’ll sum it up in just a few points. One, we have the largest number of road deaths in the world, and, as a developing country, this needs to be looked at seriously. This means looking at all three aspects – driver training (which is non-existent), safety norms for vehicles of all types, and road infrastructure & design. The automotive industry – or at least the majority of the volume players – will always resist strict safety norms, as it directly effects their margins and would prevent them from selling out-dated models that make them a great deal of money in the current scenario. So, a strict policy needs to be devised and applied by the government in this regard. If factories in India are able to make products that pass the strictest safety tests in the EU, there’s no reason why our citizens should be short-changed. And, thirdly, while the current governments policies have been fairly progressive, there is one aspect in which they’ve demonstrated a fairly short-sighted and irrational point of view. I’m referring to the proposed approval for E-Rickshaws to be allowed to ply on our roads. These poorly engineered and structurally flawed contraptions are a big risk, both for the people using them and other road users due to their poor safety and design – not to mention questionable quality. Now, I understand this move is partly politically motivated, as a ban on them directly affects some of the poorest sections of society, but putting a large number of people at risk to politically appease a vote bank is a deeply flawed policy. But, as they say, perhaps the lure for votes makes even intelligent politicians throw common sense into the trashcan.
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