It will be compulsory for all the car makers in India to officially announce vehicle recalls in case of manufacturing defects as a policy regarding the same is set to be announced by the end of 2012. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) can expect a visit from the Ministry of Heavy Industries in this regard. According to a senior bureaucrat, “Till now, there have been informal discussions between SIAM and MoRTH. From next month, the Department of Heavy Industries expects to take a lead on formal talks for such a policy.”
The term 'recall' will be redefined, as the policy will lay down the conditions and the process to be followed by the car manufacturer after the defects have been identified in a particular batch. Besides issuing an official statement to the media, companies are bound to inform the government of any such move. SIAM is planning to outdo the government in this matter, as it is all set to issue its own manual of 'voluntary guidelines' concerning recalls by June 2012. According to a SIAM official, a draft proposal is already in place.
Most of the established markets already have a well defined infrastructure in place to handle recalls. In US, if safety standards are found to be lacking in an investigation conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it can make the car maker recall the particular model or the whole batch. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts similar checks to determine environmental issues related to automobiles in the country.
The Amendment of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 was supposed to include a vehicle recall policy, which is a work-in-progress at present. Last year, however, the review by Sundar Committee refrained from suggesting any official policy regarding recalls. On the other hand, it recommended “punishment for offences relating to manufacturing of faulty vehicles”, which involved imprisonment for up to three months and/or a fine of up to Rs. 1 lac.
Car makers who have recalled vehicles in India in the past include Honda Siel, which started the trend by recalling 57,853 units of Honda City in February 2011. It was followed by the largest car manufacturer of the country, Maruti Suzuki, which recalled 13,157 units of the diesel variants of Swift and Ritz hatchbacks in order to inspect and fix powertrain defects in April 2011. Honda once again recalled 72,115 models of its City to replace faulty power window switches in September 2011.
In order to replace a faulty inlet pipe to the fuel tank, Toyota Kirloskar had to recall 41,000 units of Etios and Etios Liva cars. On the other hand, Tata Motors offered free repairs to more than 70,000 Nano compact owners following reported incidents of spontaneous combustion in the vehicles. However, the company refrains from calling this activity a 'recall'. February 2010 witnessed the second largest number of vehicles being recalled by any manufacturer in India, when over 1 lac A-Stars were called back to the service centres by Maruti Suzuki. This record is challenged only by the recall of 1.40 lac units of Nano by Tata Motors, which brought the models back to replace the starter motor.
