India Proposes Mandatory Emergency Braking for All Cars by October 2032

Automatic emergency braking is coming to every Indian car

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed making Advanced Emergency Braking Systems compulsory on every passenger vehicle sold in India, with a phased timeline that runs to October 2032. The draft notification, dated 19 October 2026, amends the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, and is open for public consultation for 30 days.

Under the proposal, all new M1 models must be fitted with AEBS from 1 October 2030, and existing models from 1 October 2032. There is no retrofit obligation for the cars already on the road.

The dates that matter, in order

The draft is more than a braking rule. It is a package of driver-assistance mandates with four separate deadlines, and the earliest arrives next year. From 1 October 2027, steering effort on motor vehicles must conform to AIS-193, with motorcycles, invalid carriages and three-wheelers without a steering wheel exempted. Cars offered with Automatic Command Steering Functionalities or an Emergency Lane Keeping System must meet AIS-191 Part 1 from the same date.

From 1 October 2028, M1 cars and N1 goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes that already offer AEBS must comply with AIS-185, the Automotive Industry Standard for the system. That is the step that forces every existing ADAS marketing claim onto one measurable benchmark.

Deadline	What becomes mandatory	Applies to
1 October 2027	AIS-193 steering effort, AIS-191 lane keeping where offered	All motor vehicles except exempted two and three-wheelers
1 October 2028	AIS-185 compliance for cars that already offer AEBS	M1 cars and N1 goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes
1 October 2029	Automatic steering, emergency lane keeping and drowsiness warnings	M1 vehicles registered for transport use, including taxis
1 October 2030	AEBS fitment	All new M1 models
1 October 2032	AEBS fitment	All M1 models, including those already in production

Commercial passenger vehicles get a harder set of rules earlier than private cars: M1 vehicles registered for transport, in practice taxis and fleet cars, need automatic steering, lane keeping and drowsiness warnings from 1 October 2029.

Why the eight-year runway matters

India's crash data has long pointed at the same thing: a large share of fatalities involve a driver who braked too late or not at all. AEBS attacks that directly, using radar and cameras to apply the brakes when the driver does not respond, either preventing the crash or reducing the speed at which it happens.

The long lead time reflects the reality that a car platform takes four to five years to re-engineer. What is unusual is that the draft covers existing models as well, which means a car designed in 2029 cannot simply be sold unchanged past 2032.

What the draft does not cover

Two-wheelers are the gap. The AEBS mandate applies to M1 passenger vehicles and to N1 goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, and motorcycles are exempted from the steering-effort rules as well. Given that two-wheelers account for the largest share of India's road deaths, the omission is the most consequential line in the entire notification.

There is a reason for it. Two-wheeled AEBS exists in Europe on premium motorcycles, but it is expensive, and mandating it on a ₹80,000 commuter would change the price of the vehicle more than the regulation could justify.

What this means for you

Nothing changes for a car you buy this Diwali, because AEBS stays optional until 2030. But the draft does give you a way to judge today's ADAS badges: from October 2028, any system advertised as AEBS must be certified to AIS-185, so claims will become comparable instead of vague.

If you are shopping in the ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh bracket and plan to keep the car for eight years or more, it is worth checking whether the variant you are buying has automatic emergency braking at all, because it is the one feature you cannot add later. Compare variants on our compare page, and read the full safety coverage on the news section.

(Sources: MoRTH draft notification dated 19 October 2026 amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, Autocar India, HT Auto, NDTV Profit, The Hindu BusinessLine. Images: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, Biswarup Ganguly; CC BY 3.0, Biswarup Ganguly; CC BY-SA 4.0, Oleg Yunakov.)

::KEY_NUMBERS:: All new models | October 2030 All models | October 2032 Standard | AIS-185 Consultation window | 30 days ::TLDR:: AEBS becomes mandatory for new M1 models from 1 October 2030 Existing models get until 1 October 2032 Cars already offering AEBS must meet AIS-185 from 1 October 2028 Taxis get automatic steering and lane-keeping mandates from 1 October 2029 ::TIMELINE:: 1 October 2027 | steering effort must meet AIS-193 1 October 2028 | cars with AEBS must comply with AIS-185 1 October 2029 | taxi-category M1 vehicles need ACSF, lane keeping and drowsiness warnings 1 October 2030 | AEBS mandatory on all new M1 models 1 October 2032 | AEBS mandatory on every M1 model, including existing ones ::GLOSSARY:: AEBS | Advanced Emergency Braking System, which brakes automatically when the driver does not react M1 category | passenger vehicles with up to eight seats besides the driver AIS-185 | the Indian industry standard that defines how AEBS must perform ::PROS:: A clear, phased timeline gives makers time to engineer Standardised testing will end marketing claims that cannot be compared Covers existing models, not just new launches Lane-keeping and drowsiness rules target the real cause of highway crashes ::CONS:: Eight years is a long wait for a proven safety technology No retrofit requirement, so today's cars stay unprotected Cost will land on buyers in the affected segments Draft rules can still change after consultation ::POLL:: Should AEBS be mandatory sooner than 2030? || Yes, 2027 is achievable || No, the industry needs the runway || Only if the government subsidises it ::SOURCES:: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways draft notification dated 19 October 2026, Autocar India, HT Auto, NDTV Profit