Wearing Non-ISI Helmets Will Land You In Jail From October

The Government will be banning the manufacturing, sales and usage of helmets that do not comply with ISI standards

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification, according to which the Government will be banning the manufacturing, sale and usage of non-ISI helmets for two-wheelers from October. A grace period of two months has been given for non-ISI helmet sellers to clear their stock, and also for the public to buy ISI-marked helmets. Post the grace period, even first-time offenders will be arrested without a warrant. The offence also amounts to a jail time of 2 years, or a fine of Rs 2 lakh. Only helmets that comply with lS 4151:2015 will be legally allowed.

This move will definitely help prevent riders from using sub-standard helmets. However, on the downside, this move also makes wearing international safety standard (DOT, ECE, Snell and others) certified helmets illegal. These can only be used if international helmet makers take steps to adhere to Indian standards, which are also ironically below the international ones. Strangely, riding without a helmet attracts a much lower fine of Rs 100 for the first offence and a fine of upto Rs 300 for subsequent offences. Go figure.

The ban on non-ISI helmet comes in the wake of new helmet regulations for 2019, wherein ISI-marked helmets should not weigh more than 1.2kg, as opposed to the 1.5kg limit currently. Unless the notification is amended to include the international-spec helmets, riders would be left with no choice but to downgrade to ISI-marked helmets.