The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on February 03, 2026, issued the Draft Central Motor Vehicles (….Amendment) Rules, 2025 to further amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
The following amendments have been stated:
• In the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, for rule 126, the following shall be substituted, namely:
“126. Prototype of every motor vehicle to be subject to test.-
On and from the date of commencement of Central Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Rules,1993, every manufacturer or importer of motor vehicles including Agricultural Tractor, Construction Equipment Vehicle, Combine Harvester, Power Tillers, Trailers, semi-trailers and Modular Hydraulic Trailers, including registered association (identified by concerned State Transport department) for E-rickshaw, shall submit the prototype of the Vehicle to be manufactured or imported by him for test by the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India or Automotive Research Association of India, Pune, or the Central Farm Machinery Testing and Training Institute, Budni (MP), or the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, or the Central Institute of Road Transport, Pune, or the International Centre for Automotive Technology, Manesar, or the Northern Region Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute, Hissar (for testing of Combine Harvester), or the Global Automotive Research Centre, Chennai, or the National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX), Indore, or the Southern Region Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh (for testing of Power Tiller) and such other agencies as may be specified by the Central Government for granting a certificate by that agency as to the compliance of provisions of the Act and these rules.
Proviso1
Provided that all the testing agencies specified in this rule, shall establish compliance with the quality standard, specifically AIS (Automotive Industry Standard), within one year from the date of publication of such standards under this rule, and the testing agencies to be notified under this rule shall be in compliance with the standard from the date of notification of such standards or date of application under this rule, whichever is later:
Proviso 2
Provided further that for the purpose of accreditation, registration and regulation of testing agencies under this sub-rule, the quality control and procedure prescribed in AIS notified under this rule shall be followed:
Proviso 3
Provided also that the procedure for type approval and certification of motor vehicles for compliance to these rules shall be in accordance with the AIS: 017-2000, as amended from time to time, or procedure laid down by the Central Government, if any and information on technical specifications shall be submitted by the vehicle manufacturer in accordance with AIS-007(Rev.5):2014, as amended from time to time:
Proviso 4 Provided also that altered, retrofitted or adapted motor vehicles shall be tested and type approved by the testing agencies specified in this rule, or self- certified by original equipment manufacturers, or self-certified by the work-shops authorized by the State Government, in accordance with section 52 of the Act and rules made thereunder:
Proviso 5
Provided also that in respect of vehicle manufacturer, importing into India unused completely built units (CBU) or completely knocked down units (CKD) of right hand steering control vehicles, directly or through their authorised representative, up to 2500 units of M 1 or L category of vehicles, as the case may be and up to 500 units of other categories of vehicles annually, compliant with international standard, namely EEC or ECE or Japanese, the compliance of such vehicle shall be deemed to be established for sale and registration under rule 47, by a certificate of compliance for the relevant standard issued by an authorised agency or accredited certifying agency:
Proviso 6
Provided also that, for all imported L and M1 category gasoline-fuelled vehicles equipped with positive ignition engine, the vehicle manufacturer in addition to whole vehicle type approval certificate as per EEC, ECE, or Japanese standards shall provide a Type-I exhaust emission compliance report performed on E20 reference fuel (as per IS :17943 as amended from time to time), issued by an authorized test agency listed in the Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, or by an authorized test agency issuing vehicle type approval certificate as per EEC, ECE, or Japanese standards, performed on emission test cycle applicable in international standard, namely EEC, ECE or Japanese and such. Further the vehicle manufacturers along with the said report shall submit a declaration for material compatibility for E 20 fuel to the authorized test agency:
Proviso 7
Provided also that the procedure for type approval and certification of agricultural tractors shall be in accordance with AIS-017(Part 2) (Rev.2): 2016 standard as amended from time to time:
Proviso 8
Provided also that in respect of unused right-hand steering control vehicles compliant with the international standard namely, EEC or ECE or Japanese, imported into India as completely built units (CBU),for the purpose of personal use, demonstration, testing, research or scientific work, the compliance of such vehicles shall be deemed to be established for registration under rule 47, by a certificate of compliance for the relevant standard issued by an authorised agency or accredited certifying agency:
Proviso 9
Provided also that the construction equipment vehicles (CEV) may have steering control on either of the side:
Proviso 10
Provided also that the administrative procedure to deal with corrigendum, amendments or revisions to Automotive Industry Standards (AIS), Type Approval Procedures 115/116, Indian Standards (IS) and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards, which are notified under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules,1989, shall be in accordance with AIS-000:2013 as amended from time to time:
Proviso 11
Provided also that prototype of truck bodies may be submitted for testing and type approval to engineering colleges specified by the State Government or the State Road Transport Undertakings duly approved by the State Government.”
The Objections and suggestions to these draft rules, if any, may be sent to the Additional Secretary (MVL), email: [email protected] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Transport Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110 001 within 30 days from the issuance of this notification.
[Notification No. G.S.R. 99(E)]
