MoRTH had earlier amended the Motor Vehicle Act in the country and framed rules according to which automakers will have to issue a mandatory vehicle recall.
Vehicle recall has long been a sensitive matter in the Indian automotive market and it seems that the government finally has a solution to deal with it. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has launched a new vehicle recall portal on the Parivahan website.
This measure is taken to help users to register complaints about defects in their vehicles straight with the Indian government.
Post registration, people can submit their grievances when vehicle owners will register on the portal. The issues can vary from a faulty or specific component or a software issue that may pose risk to road safety. Additionally, vehicle owners can register their complaints only if the vehicle is less than seven years old.
The report also cities that the new recall portal was a need for a centralized agency like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will undertake screening, analysis and investigation of the vehicles and then announce a recall if it is required.
To that end, via this portal, vehicle owners will be empowered to file complaints about defects in the vehicles. This measure came into into effect from 1 April, 2021, by the way.
At the moment, India, follows a voluntary vehicle recall policy, i.e manufactures are allowed to issue recalls of their own volition once a potential hazard is detected. The aforementioned vehicle recall portal notes that this provision to register complaints may well as part of the endeavours to switch to a mandatory vehicle recall policy.
