The non-ISI helmet ‘ban’: what you should know
The world is not ending, everyone doesn’t hate your life choices, there’s something you can do
On the 5th of August 2018, many of us in the motoring press received a press release on behalf of the “Two Wheeler Helmet Manufacturers Association”, claiming “MANUFACTURING AND SELLING NON-ISI HELMETS IS NOW MADE A CRIMINAL OFFENCE”. The release went on further, that infractions would amount to “arrest without warrant. While for first offence the penalty would amount to two years jail or fine of at least ₹2 lakh, subsequent offences would attract higher fine. This will be applicable from next 60 days.” Interactions were invited for Mr Rajeev Kapur, MD of Steelbird — claimed to be Asia’s largest helmet manufacturer — and President of the association.
This is the origin of “non-ISI helmets will be banned in two months”. This is flat-out wrong. The “proposed Helmets (Quality Control) Order, 2018” is just that — a proposal, and invites comments from stakeholders and the general public. This is an open policy-making process that is involving the public. This is a good thing. What is not good is the claim that this is already, in fact, law. It is not.
Does this affect you, the rider and helmet user? Not immediately or directly. Importers who are bringing foreign helmets into the country for sale will be impacted, because those helmets will not have ISI certification, and nobody likes jail food. The Bureau of Indian Standards will be the certifying and enforcing authority, if the proposal goes through. This doesn’t mean they’re going to be knocking on your door and taking away that sweet Arai you got for next to nothing from Japan the last time your journalist friend went. They’re going to go after the sellers, helped along, no doubt, by the above-mentioned association.
Helmet standards
There are many helmet standards across the world, certifying them as safe for two-wheeler riders to use. Some are stringent (ECE), some are independent (SNELL, SHARP), some are weird (DOT). But for the most part, buying a reputable brand means you’ll get one of these certified stickers and are likely to limit head injuries in a crash situation. Many of us who care about our own safety already own expensive, imported helmets that meet or exceed these international standards, and feel more comfortable relying on them than locally-produced ISI-mark helmets.
Arguments for mandatory ISI certification
Is this such a bad thing? Not really. Take a look around: you can buy helmets along the roadside for a few hundred rupees. Sometimes, these helmets even have ISI marks. Real, fake, we’re not sure. If this proposal goes through and there are real penalties for taking certification lightly, then these spurious-looking helmets will go away and legit manufacturers like Steelbird, Vega and others will be your only choices. This is a good thing.
What is also good is IS 4151 — the relevant standard for the ISI mark to appear on a two-wheeler helmet. It’s essentially based on ECE 22.05 (with some additional requirements), which is widely considered to be an excellent safety standard, with a good process for certification. Technically, any decent imported helmet that conforms to ECE or SNELL (DOT, I’m not so sure) should easily be able to pass testing for an ISI mark.
Arguments against
So what happens if this proposal is scuttled entirely? Spurious helmets continue to be sold, since there’s no criminal prosecution deterrent. Bad outcome. But can’t we make exceptions for international standards? After all, imported vehicles ply on Indian roads legally, based on their certifications abroad. This is, in essence, what we’re hoping to convince the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to do, through our email campaign.
But Mr Kapur makes a valid point, in this interview with Autoalive:
All the European helmets or ones using DOT as a standard can pass Indian homologation. They have to take the approval from the Indian government. When we export a helmet to China, we have to take their homologation or approval. For Europe or any other country, we have to take their particular homologation. Just having helmets built to DOT standards will not get them an entry into a country. In the USA, European standard lids cannot be sold and vice versa. It is easy to gain entry into India legally. They have to apply for homologation and it will take maximum of a month for the certification to happen.
“What happens otherwise is the same thing. Put in a DOT sticker and sell sub standard helmets. Tomorrow, if the government were to allow DOT or ECE standards in India, manufacturers will just slap on these stickers since there is no way to prove these are tested or not. China will start selling a massive bulk of helmets with DOT in India then. Since the foreign helmet makers are so sure of their quality as well as standards, they needn’t worry as ISI is one more standard they got to clear.”
Fair enough: we need to pass international tests to export to other countries, and the same should apply to our certification bodies. So really, it appears that requiring strict enforcement of ISI-marked helmets is not unreasonable.
The subtext
Of course, it can’t be that simple. If IS 4151 is already based on ECE 22.05, then any locally-manufactured helmet is, by definition, as safe as my ₹32,000 Scorpion carbon-fibre lid. Surely, in order to put an ISI sticker on a helmet, there must be a rigorous testing procedure and methodology like they use in Europe.
My colleague Shubhabrata Marmar filed an RTI application with the BIS to find out what this process is. The answer shouldn’t surprise anyone:
“There’s no clause for testing in the standard! Yes. This is true. I filed a RTI application on August 9, 2018 asking three questions — How many helmets did the BIS test on average? Was this test mandatory? And how long does the ISI-certification last? The answer is shocking. I received responses from regional BIS offices in Bhopal, MP, Guwahati, Assam, Durgapur, West Bengal and Nagpur and Maharashtra. All of which say that these offices have either no licence to work the IS 4151 standard certification, or have not done even a single certification since these offices opened.”
Wait, so if all these BIS offices aren’t doing any testing, who is?
“The only BIS office, then, that does actually test helmets is the one at Pawanoo, Himachal Pradesh — we believe Steelbird, who claim to be India’s biggest helmet maker — has a helmet plant at Baddi, HP. The BIS office at Parwanoo, tested a total of five helmets in the calendar year preceding our RTI query. Just five. Less than half a helmet a month. But don’t be surprised. They also clarified that the Indian motorcycle helmet standard does not come under the mandatory testing regime, which means that the BIS is not actually required to test any motorcycles helmets to grant an ISI certificate to them. But, the BIS certification licence is valid for a year and can be renewed further.”
Here’ where things get clearer: the BIS doesn’t actually need to test any two-wheeler helmets. It’s not mandatory. They’re basically handing out renewable licenses to manufacturers, and the onus is on the manufacturer to have the relevant testing facilities to ensure things are above-board. Mr Kapur says:
“The government agencies checks samples from a freshly made helmet lot. It is not conveyed to the helmet maker which lot will be checked. It is more of a surprise check. If the sample doesn’t pass the ISI standards, then the government ensures that it doesn’t allow the manufacturer to produce helmets anymore.”
Seems legit. What could possibly go wrong?
Pro-safety, or pro-business?
Okay, so let’s give everyone the benefit of doubt and agree that mandatory ISI-certification — tested or not — is in everybody’s interest. Indiatimes reported on the mandatory BIS certification proposal as far back as May 9. But here’s the interesting bit:
He also said that based on recommendations of the trauma centre experts, it has been decided to do away with the penetration test, currently in practice for helmets as no instances of injuries are observed with sharp edges.
However, ear protection part in the helmet will be mandatory.
“This will help reduce weight from 1.5 kg to 1.2 kg, thereby making helmets lighter by 300 gms,” the minister said.
Based on the latest available (draft) of IS 4151 on the BIS website, the maximum weight limit for an ISI-marked helmet (measured without accessories like visors) is 1500gm. Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister is quoted by PTI in the above-linked article as wanting to revise this maximum to 1200gm. The best helmets in the world, specifically designed for high-speed race use, sometimes come close to that 1.2kg limit. Most are significantly heavier. My full carbon-fibre helmet is 1250g in total.
So not only must an imported helmet — say an ECE 22.05 rated one — be homologated to get an ISI sticker, it must actually become less safe in order to meet this proposed new weight limit. This, if it were to come to be, would eliminate all but the most exotic race-only, carbon-fibre helmets from the running. Those super-popular MT helmets that have 5-star SHARP ratings (1.45kg)? Illegal. My old Bell Vortex Snell 2010-rated helmet (1.8kg)? Illegal. The top-shelf Arai RX-7V (1.56kg, SHARP 5-star)? Illegal. The ₹959 Steelbird Adonis Classic Black? Sir, kya lenge? Chai? Thanda?
The proposed notification, if it comes into force, will eliminate choice for the Indian helmet buyer. Instead of being able to buy an imported helmet that is (or admittedly, may not be) certified to the highest standard, the consumer will be compelled to buy an ISI-marked helmet, that we already know is not adequately tested by the BIS’ own admission.
What’s the solution?
I can only foresee two: either make exceptions for imported helmets with international certifications, or improve the testing methodology and certification process for local sellers/manufacturers. As it stands, there is no deterrent for a local manufacturer against selling sub-standard materials. At most his license may be cancelled, while your local Arai, Shoei or Scorpion importer learns socially-useful skills behind bars.
If ISI must be made mandatory for two-wheeler helmets, we must have a rational, transparent process for testing and certification that does not make things convenient for some players while legislating others out of the market. Let’s have real safety and real choice for everyone.
What now?
It’s unlikely that all our non-ISI helmets will be ‘banned’ in the next few weeks. Enforcement of helmet laws on the street is up to state authorities anyway, so for the most part, nobody’s going to be bothering you as long as you’re wearing a helmet. If RTO authorities do start enforcing the ISI rule as they did in Bangalore recently, you can try and reason with the officer on the scene, or make collective representations to the higher authorities. It has worked before.
What can you do?
You can open up savethehelmet.in and let the Joint Secretary, Transport know how you feel. I’ve written a detailed letter highlighting these concerns, and tried to make a reasonable argument for making exceptions for helmets of international standard and repute. I’m sure there will be a feasible way to check the relevant documentation to ensure that the market is not flooded by Chinese-manufactured spurious helmets with fake DOT or ECE stickers, as Mr Kapur imagines.
