The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Delhi High Court’s earlier order which mandated every two-wheeler manufacturer to compulsorily include a helmet along with every new two-wheeler they sell in the country. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court last year against the Delhi High Court’s order.
SIAM argued that the Motor Vehicles Act already stipulated the use of a helmet by a rider while riding a two-wheeler and that the Delhi High Court’s ruling completely changes the existing rule of a helmet for a person to a helmet for every new vehicle.
The main problem of the new ruling as per Industry Officials is that the new rule will cause problems for those customers buying their second two-wheeler and those who already own a helmet, because it will force these customers to buy another helmet in addition to the helmets which they already possess. Another problem of the new rule is that it will force two-wheeler manufacturers to bear the brunt of the additional cost of providing the helmet with new two-wheelers, since most customers may not be ready to cough up the extra dough for the helmet.
The High Court’s ruling also states that two-wheeler manufacturers should only provide Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified helmets to their customers and that customers should be provided with the helmets only by the dealers.
The ruling of the Supreme Court does have some flaws in it like forcing customers to buy a new helmet even if they have one and not allowing customers to purchase helmets from shops in the open market. But, the bigger picture is that instead of implementing rules to force customers to buy helmets even when they have one already, it should be ensured that two-wheeler riders and pillions across the nation are forced to wear a helmet whenever they are aboard a two-wheeler.
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