Through a letter to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Auto LPG Coalition (IAC) has expressed its disagreement on a range of issues in the draft notification on the conversion of BS-VI vehicles to LPG and CNG. According to the IAC, a draft notification mandating crash test and in-service conformity among other things for conversion of BS-VI vehicles to LPG and CNG are completely unviable and impractical, and is unheard of for the aftermarket globally, including European norms.

Some of the areas of concern in the draft notification are persisting with a limited period for the validity of type approval and mandating of crash test, IAC stated and added “going ahead with such proposals would not only perpetuate the uneven playing field which has long persisted for the retrofitment players vis-a-vis the OEMs but also majorly compromise on the long-term environmental objectives of the government.”

For IAC, the government must allow the validity of type approval for perpetuity: “Anything short of that raises the cost prohibitively, thereby deterring the conversion kit makers and hampering the general growth of the conversion market.”

The draft norms have proposed in-service conformity, applicable after three years. “However, unlike in the case of new vehicles wherein the owners compulsorily have to visit the authorised workshop for servicing for at least four years since the day of purchase, it would be inconceivable to expect the owner of a retrofitted vehicle to return to the retrofitter. Given that the vehicle has already served almost half its life, the imposition of this rule and, more importantly, the implementation of it would not be practically feasible”, IAC said.

“While we welcome the government’s intent to pave the way for the conversion of BS-VI vehicles to LPG and CNG variants, the proposals so far in the draft notification have been disappointing, to say the least. These proposals are clear and very disproportionately biased towards the OEMs and away from conversion kit players,” commented Suyash Gupta, Director General, IAC.

He added that the draft should “serve the cause of the broader clean mobility, economy-ecology balance, and making available inexpensive vehicular fuel to common people.” For more information, please visit this link.

16 March 2022