The government has begun the process of making six airbags mandatory for all cars being sold in India from October 1 this year. On Friday. the government issued a draft notification seeking comments from the public and other stakeholders on the proposed rule that will make it mandatory for car manufacturers to provide for six airbags from 1 October. The comments received over the next month will be reviewed by the government and a final notification, with modifications if any, will be issued to implement the rule.  

Friday's notification is a follow-up to Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari appeal to car manufacturers on 3 August last year to provide a minimum of 6 airbags across all variants and segments of vehicles.  

As of now, two airbags are mandatory in all vehicles - one for the driver and the other for the co-passenger in the front seat. The rule for airbags for the driver's seat was made mandatory from July 1, 2019, while the one for the co-passenger came into effect from January 1 this year.