Bharat NCAP and AIS safety regulations

Why it matters

Every vehicle sold in India must be type-approved against safety rules, and since the launch of Bharat NCAP buyers can also compare cars by star rating. Engineers working at OEMs, suppliers and test agencies (ARAI, ICAT and others) spend much of their time designing to, testing against and documenting these requirements. Knowing which rule is mandatory, which rating is voluntary and what each test physically demands is basic professional knowledge.

Key ideas

The legal framework.

• The Motor Vehicles Act empowers the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to make the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR). Construction, equipment and safety requirements in CMVR refer to technical standards.
• Those standards are mainly AIS (Automotive Industry Standards), prepared by the Automotive Industry Standards Committee with ARAI as its secretariat, and IS standards from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Many AIS documents are aligned with UN ECE regulations.
• Vehicles are type-approved by designated test agencies (such as ARAI and ICAT) before sale, and conformity of production (COP) checks confirm that production vehicles still comply. Regulations are mandatory pass/fail minimums. Always check the current notification, because requirements and dates are amended regularly.

Important safety standards (examples).

• AIS-098 — occupant protection in an offset frontal collision (based on UN R94; 40% offset deformable barrier at 56 km/h).
• AIS-099 — occupant protection in a lateral (side) collision (based on UN R95; moving deformable barrier at 50 km/h).
• AIS-100 — pedestrian protection (head and leg impactor tests on the bonnet and bumper).
• AIS-145 — fitment of safety features such as driver and front-passenger airbags, seat-belt reminders, speed alerts and reverse parking sensors (check the current amendment for the full list).
• AIS-052 — bus body code; AIS-140 — vehicle location tracking and emergency buttons for public service vehicles.
• Requirements for ABS or combined braking on two-wheelers, ESC, and child-seat (ISOFIX) anchorages are introduced through CMVR amendments by vehicle category.

Bharat NCAP. India's New Car Assessment Programme, launched by MoRTH in 2023, with its protocol published as AIS-197. Key features (verify details in the current protocol):

• Voluntary: manufacturers nominate cars, or the agency picks models from the market.
• Scope: passenger cars (category M1) up to 3.5 t.
• Tests: frontal offset deformable barrier at 64 km/h (more severe than the 56 km/h regulation), side moving-deformable-barrier impact at 50 km/h, side pole impact at about 29 km/h, plus assessment of safety-assist features.
• Scores: Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) out of 32 points and Child Occupant Protection (COP) out of 49 points, each converted to a 0–5 star rating; higher star levels also depend on fitment of features such as ESC and pedestrian-protection compliance.
• It is modelled on the Global NCAP protocol used for earlier "Safer Cars for India" tests.

Regulation vs NCAP. A car can pass every mandatory regulation and still score poorly in NCAP, because NCAP tests are more severe and score performance on a sliding scale rather than pass/fail. NCAP ratings have pushed manufacturers to strengthen body shells, fit more airbags and ESC, and improve child-seat provisions.

Why 64 km/h matters. Kinetic energy rises with V², so a 64 km/h test delivers about 31% more energy than 56 km/h into the same structure — the crush space and safety cage must cope with that without intrusion.

Child occupant protection is assessed with child dummies (around 18 months and 3 years old) in manufacturer-recommended child restraints, plus checks on ISOFIX anchorages, airbag deactivation and the installation of different child seats.

Formulas

KE = ½·m·V² — energy to be absorbed in a barrier test (J).

KE₂/KE₁ = (V₂/V₁)² — energy ratio between two test speeds.

a_avg = V² / (2·s) — average vehicle deceleration over crush s (m/s²).

F_avg = KE / s — average crush force (N).

V_c = m_b·V_b / (m_b + m_v) — common velocity when a moving barrier of mass m_b at speed V_b strikes a stationary vehicle of mass m_v, perfectly plastic (m/s).

E_abs = ½·[m_b·m_v/(m_b + m_v)]·V_b² — energy absorbed in that impact (J).

Worked examples

Example 1 (standard) — regulation speed vs NCAP speed. A 1200 kg car is crash-tested at 56 km/h (regulation) and 64 km/h (NCAP). If its front structure crushes 0.6 m in each case and the barrier's deformation is ignored, compare the kinetic energy, average crush force and average deceleration.

1. 56 km/h = 15.56 m/s: KE = 0.5 × 1200 × 15.56² = 145.2 kJ; F_avg = 145 185/0.6 = 242 kN; a = 15.56²/1.2 = 201.6 m/s² = 20.6 g.
2. 64 km/h = 17.78 m/s: KE = 0.5 × 1200 × 17.78² = 189.6 kJ; F_avg = 316 kN; a = 263.4 m/s² = 26.8 g.
3. Energy ratio = (64/56)² = 1.31 — 31% more energy. If the structure cannot absorb it within the same crush, the extra crush intrudes into the footwell and cabin.

Example 2 (GATE level) — side barrier impact. In a side-impact test a 950 kg moving deformable barrier strikes a stationary 1200 kg car at 50 km/h. Treat the impact as perfectly plastic. Find the common velocity, the car's ΔV and the energy absorbed by the barrier face and car side. In the pole test, the car moves sideways into a rigid pole at 29 km/h and crushes 0.35 m; find its average deceleration.

1. V_b = 50/3.6 = 13.89 m/s.
2. V_c = m_b·V_b/(m_b + m_v) = 950 × 13.89/2150 = 6.14 m/s; the car's ΔV = 6.14 m/s = 22.1 km/h.
3. E_abs = ½·(950 × 1200/2150)·13.89² = 0.5 × 530.2 × 192.9 = 51.1 kJ (of the barrier's 91.6 kJ).
4. Pole: V = 29/3.6 = 8.06 m/s; a_avg = V²/(2s) = 64.9/0.70 = 92.7 m/s² (9.4 g) — modest for the car, but the pole penetrates locally, so the B-pillar, sill, door beams and curtain airbag decide head and chest injury.

Common mistakes

• Calling Bharat NCAP mandatory. It is a voluntary consumer rating; type approval under CMVR is mandatory.
• Assuming a star rating proves only structural strength. AOP and COP scores also depend on restraints, child seats and fitted safety features.
• Confusing the 56 km/h regulatory offset test with the 64 km/h NCAP test.
• Quoting old dates or numbers for mandated features — rules are amended often, so always cite the current notification.
• Mixing up AIS-098 (frontal) and AIS-099 (side).

For GATE ME

Questions are mainly conceptual: the role of MoRTH, CMVR, AIS and test agencies; the difference between regulation and NCAP; test configurations and speeds. Numericals use crash mechanics — kinetic energy at test speeds, average deceleration, barrier impacts with momentum conservation. Never memorise rating thresholds without checking the current protocol.

Quick check

1. Which document publishes the Bharat NCAP test protocol?
2. By what factor does impact energy rise from 56 to 64 km/h?
3. Is a Bharat NCAP rating mandatory for sale in India?
4. Which AIS covers occupant protection in a side collision?

Answers: 1. AIS-197. 2. (64/56)² ≈ 1.31. 3. No — it is voluntary; CMVR type approval is mandatory. 4. AIS-099.