Government Acts Tough, Asks For Quick Recall Of Faulty Electric Vehicles

Seeking quick recall of faulty vehicles, Union Road Transport Secretary Giridhar Aramane has acted tough against the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers amid recurrences of fatal two-wheeler EV fires.

He asked the companies to quickly recall the faulty batches of vehicles on their own and warned they should be ready to face severe consequences for hiding any incident of fire or delay in recall.

Cracking the whip, Aramane asked all EV manufacturers to send their standard operating procedures (SOPs) and testing norms followed for quality checking of batteries and other equipment to the ministry in the next one-two weeks and also focus on research and development.

The secretary cited how some companies have barely 12-15 employees indicating what quality control mechanism they must be following. The issue of quality control of batteries provided by manufacturers has come under scanner considering that the manufacturers sell the batteries as a package of the EVs. The issue of how the companies have a handful of technical staff for quality checks and research has also been flagged by the government.

Aramane also flagged how only three manufacturers have recalled their vehicles while fire cases were reported in case of vehicles rolled out by six players. Sources said Aramane pointed out how the ministry had to pursue even in the case of three companies that were compelled to recall their faulty batches.

“The government is fully behind the industry for healthy growth, but not at the cost of consumers’ safety. The companies will have to put their house in order and seriously invest in laboratories and quality control,” the ministry maintained.