Controlling emissions from new vehicles through upgrading emission standards has been highly successful. There is however, increasing evidence that the focus on new vehicles and fuel oil upgradation is reaching diminishing returns in cost effectiveness. Even new vehicles with state-of-the art technology will deteriorate, if not maintained properly. Hence measures to control emissions from in-use vehicles are an essential complement to emission standards for new vehicles.
Effective inspection and maintenance programmes are needed to ensure that the benefits of new vehicle emission control strategies are not lost through poor maintenance and tampering with the emission controls. Inspection and Maintenance programme involve periodic measurement of emissions from in-use vehicles by regulatory authority (or its designates) and repairing the vehicles if necessary.
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The purpose of an effective Inspection and Maintenance (I & M) programme is to identify the poorly maintained or defective vehicles which are polluting and to ensure that they are properly repaired so as to reduce emissions and to improve fuel efficiency.
In many cities, a small fraction of vehicles have been found to contribute disproportionately to total vehicular emissions. Repairing, upgrading or else scrapping gross polluters can improve air quality at relatively low cost to the society compared to other air pollution control strategies. Eliminating gross polluters can be an important instrument for reducing vehicle-generated air pollution because of their disproportionately high contribution to pollution.
Inspection and Maintenance serve two purposes- firstly they help identify vehicles in which maladjustments or other mechanical problems are causing high emissions. In populations of modern emission control vehicles, a large fraction of total emissions is due to a minority of vehicles with malfunctioning emission control systems.
Various recent researches have shown that 5 percent of the vehicle fleet causes 25 percent of all emissions, that 15 percent of the fleet is responsible for 43 percent of total emissions, and that 20 percent of the vehicles are responsible for 60 percent of emissions.
The problem is aggravated by gross or super emitters- vehicles with emission rates greater than five times the certification standards. Among uncontrolled vehicles, the difference in hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions between a properly adjusted and maintained vehicle and one that is poorly adjusted can amount to a factor of four or more. The second important role of an Inspection and Maintenance programme is to identify malfunctions and discourage tampering with emission control equipment, so that the emission controls continue to be effective over the useful life of the vehicle.
A damaged catalytic converter or malfunctioning oxygen sensor can increase hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions from modern emission-controlled vehicles by a factor of 20 or more, often without severity affecting driveability. Studies have shown that by identifying vehicles that have maintenance problems, and requiring that they be repaired, an effective I & M programme should be able to reduce average vehicle emissions by 30 to 50 percent.
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There are two main types of Inspection and Maintenance programs- Centralised programmes, in which all inspections are done in high volume test facilities operated by the government or contracted to competitively – selected private operators, and decentralized programmes, in which both emissions testing and repairs are done in private garages.
The decentralized arrangement is generally less effective because of fraud and improper inspections. Centralised programmes operated by private contractors yield better results and were recommended in World Bank studies for most developing countries.
In U.S and Europe, Inspection and Maintenance programmes have been designed around passenger cars, which form bulk of their vehicle fleet. In developing countries like India, commercial vehicles like buses, trucks, three-wheeler autos, two wheelers etc., accounts for a large share of motor vehicle emissions. Hence in developing countries, the focus should be more on Commercial vehicles and two wheelers than cars.
Similarly in developing countries like India, particulate emissions are significant due to large number of two-stroke two wheelers and diesel vehicles (Unlike CO and HC emissions from cars in developed countries). Hence Inspection and Maintenance programmes in India and the other developing countries should focus on controlling particulate emissions from vehicles.
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Studies have indicated that effective Inspection and Maintenance programmes not only reduce vehicle emissions significantly, but will also improve fuel efficiency of the vehicle. The improvement in fuel economy from adequate maintenance should more than recoup the added costs due to I & M to the owner.
Studies conducted by ARAI in India show that of a batch of 34 vehicles of various ages, comprising two and three wheelers and passenger cars, simple and relatively inexpensive maintenance actions consisting of cleaning, tuning and adjusting of carburetors and ignition systems, reduced HC and CO emissions by 60 percent. As a result, there was improvement in fuel consumption by 20 percent.
After a detailed study, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) concluded that 22-60% emission reductions can be achieved in Indian cities through appropriate and effective Inspection and Maintenance Programmes.
According to Mashelkar Committee, “in spite of progressively tighter emission control regulations from 1991 for new vehicles and the corresponding improvement in fuel quality for both new and in-use vehicles, there has not been commensurate improvement in the air quality in the country, for the reason, among others, that in-use vehicles are ill-maintained and the mechanisms to check the working of the emission control devices are weak. It is therefore important to address the issues of inspection and certification of in-use vehicles, and also to put in place systems for surveillance and monitoring of emission performance of m-use vehicles. The present emission checking system has not achieved the desired objectives to check emissions from in-use vehicles effectively”.
Emission Standards for In-Use Vehicles:
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Implementation of an Inspection and Maintenance programme requires that standards be established for emissions from in-service vehicles. Compliance with the established standards is verified through inspection and maintenance programmes and road side inspections.
Emission standards for in-use gasoline vehicles are usually limited to CO and HC. Emission standards for in-use diesel vehicles usually focus on smoke emissions. Emission standards for in-use vehicles are revised from time to time but the older models are usually allowed more lenient emission limits. Emission standards for in-use vehicles were established in India in 1989 and have not been revised so far. They are under revision.
Regulations that include emission standards for in-use vehicles also specify procedures for compliance testing. The most common inspection test for gasoline vehicles involves measuring CO and HC emissions when the vehicle is idling. In India, only CO is measured at idling speed in gasoline vehicles.
For diesel vehicles, the smoke opacity is measured in terms of smoke density using Bosch or Hatridge methods and applying load through accelerating the vehicle (in neutral) using “free-acceleration” method. In India, smoke opacity is measured using Hatridge method.
In-use emission standards are set at levels to accommodate current and future emission control technologies, as well as the required levels of emission reductions. Emission standards for Inspection and Maintenance programmes must-consider both the statistical distribution of vehicle emission levels and the maximum failure rate that can be considered politically acceptable. The worst 10 to 20 percent of the vehicles (gross emitters) generally account for a substantial fraction of total emissions.
By measuring the actual distribution of emissions in the target population, it is possible to set emission standards such that the highest emitting vehicles fail and must-be repaired, without producing such a high failure rate that the programme becomes politically unsustainable. With continued monitoring of vehicle emission levels and failure rates, it should be possible to tighten emission standards as vehicle conditions improve over time, creating a progressive improvement in vehicle emission levels.
Whenever tight emission standards are fixed, the owner of a vehicle not meeting the standards could be offered technical and financial assistance to retrofit the polluting vehicle with emission control equipment such as a catalytic converter or an alternative fuel (natural gas or LPG) engine or to replace it with a new low- emission vehicle. An alternative approach would be use of vehicle emission taxes (as in California State, U.SA) rather than emission standards. This would offer greater flexibility, while creating an incentive to reduce emissions even below the legislated standards.
Inspection Frequency for In-Use Vehicles:
Vehicle inspection is a tool employed to ensure that vehicles meet applicable exhaust emission standards under normal operating conditions. Vehicles are inspected by regulatory agency (or their designates) at regular fixed time intervals. Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR) prescribes that even- vehicle in India should be tested for compliance to the in-use emission standards every six months. However for the National Capital Region of Delhi the periodicity is three months.
New vehicles are tested for emission compliance after one year. The recent studies in Hyderabad city indicated that only about 20 % of the required tests are being conducted regularly. It is necessary to see that the frequency of testing is fixed appropriately. Too frequent testing may apart from causing inconvenience to the owners, can dilute the system and increase corruption.
The durability of the vehicles in emissions at different life times should be studied and correlated to the periodicity or frequency of testing. In most of the developed countries, “Fitness certification” and “Emission certification” works are coordinated and carried out on a vehicle dynamometer at the same time. Such a system is likely to be more effective in controlling emissions as well as safety.
Currently new buses and trucks are required to undergo Fitness certification test after 2 years and once a year there after. Personalised vehicles like cars, two wheelers, etc. are exempted from fitness testing for the first 15 years. They are tested after 15 years and once every five years there after.
Until recently, in U.S, vehicles were required to undergo emission tests once in a year and it was changed to once in two years recently. In japan, new vehicles are tested after three years and once in two years thereafter. In Europe, heavy duty diesel vehicles are tested annually, but while new diesel cars are tested after four years, new gasoline cars are tested after three years and thereafter, both types of cars are tested once in two years.
In Singapore, while taxis and buses are tested once in six months, new private cars are tested after three years and once every two years thereafter. New motor cycles and scooters are tested after three years and annually thereafter.
The durability of the vehicles confirming to Euro-2 standards has increased considerably. Hence the new vehicles confirming to Euro-2 norms can be tested after three years. After 3 years, buses and taxis can be tested once in a year and the private cars once in two years till they reach 12 years of age. After 12 years, the vehicles can undergo tests once in a year.
Loaded dynamometer Tests can be used for emission and fitness testing and they can be carried out simultaneously. The current practice of testing once in three months as in Delhi and once in six months in other places is considered to be a wasteful experience and needs a revision atleast for Euro-2 compliant vehicles.
Institutional Setting for Inspection and Maintenance:
Two types of organisations exist for inspection and maintenance programmes viz.; centralised and decentralised, although some hybrid programmes have also been adopted. In the centralised programme, the vehicle is inspected at one of a limited number of high volume inspection facilities. In the decentralised programmes, vehicles are inspected at a large number of private gasoline stations and garages, which also carry out repairs on vehicles that fail to comply with emission standards.
Centralised Inspection and Certification:
In centralised inspection and certification programme, vehicles are inspected at one of the few high volume inspection facilities. These facilities are regulated by the government and run either by the government or independent contractors.
In a typical centralised programme, the government franchises a single contractor to build and operate the inspection centres in a given area, while charging a set fee to the vehicle owner. The fee is normally set at a level that allows the contractor to recover capital and operating costs and make a profit over the time period covered by the franchise.
The advantages of providing centralised inspection and certification facilities are:
1. Inspection standards, testing methodology, test results, and pass/fail decisions are stored in the computer and printed out for the customer.
2. Subjective actions and decisions are eliminated, minimising the potential for human errors or tampering with the test results.
3. Diagnostic information suggesting the probable cause of failure can also be printed helping the motorist and the mechanic, and lowering repair costs.
4. Independent re-inspection after repairs improves the effectiveness of vehicle repairs and reduces the fraud by garages in prescribing unnecessary repairs and charging without proper attention.
Decentralised Inspection and Certification:
In a decentralised programme, vehicles are inspected at large number of private service stations and garages, which also carry out repairs on vehicles that fail the emissions test. They are generally not operated by the Government.
This results in malpractices, both in passing vehicles that should have failed in return for a bribe and failing vehicles that should have passed in order to repair them and collecting repair charges without adequate attention and issuing the certificate.
A large surveillance team is needed for the regulatory agency to supervise the inspection programme and ensure their proper working. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency in U.S.A., have observed rates of improper inspection exceeding 50% in decentralised inspection and certification programmes in California, which has the best regulatory system for environmental protection.
Comparison of Centralised and Decentralised Systems:
Studies have shown that inspection in centralised programmes is more effective because of automated, comprehensive inspection procedures on more sophisticated equipment and better supervision and control. Though equipment costs are higher in centralised stations (about $100,000) compared to decentralised stations (about $ 6,000), inspection costs tend to be lower in centralised facilities due to economies of scale.
The skills and competence of few inspectors in the small number of locations, can be monitored more effectively and cheating can be prevented more easily in centralised programmes. Since repairs are not carried out by the centralised programme facilities, the quality of repairs and re-testing will be more effective.
Decentralised programmes are less expensive to set up than centralised programmes but are more expensive to operate. In U.S.A., decentralised programmes cost on an average U.S. $ 17.70 per vehicle, and centralised programmes cost U.S. $ 7.46 per vehicle. In addition to being more cost-effective, the centralised inspection system in U.S.A. was found to achieve nearly double the reduction in emissions of the decentralised programme.
Research studies recommend that “if possible vehicle inspection and maintenance programme should be carried out in centralised, high- volume, test only facilities. Automated reading of emission measurements and computerisation of the pass-fail decision can help minimise opportunities for fraud”.
The experience in developed countries like U.S., U.K., Singapore, Japan, Canada, Germany, Mexico and other Latin American countries indicates that centralised programmes are more effective than decentralised programmes. Centralised inspection programmes are more common in Latin American countries. Chile has a highly effective centralised inspection and maintenance programme for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
These countries have either private ownership of inspection and certification facilities or public ownership. Some countries have a combination of the two as in U.K., where public ownership and operation facility is used for testing of public service buses, trucks, etc. while private ownership facilities are used for testing light commercial vehicles, cars etc.
Full private ownership reduces capital cost to the State to minimum but necessitates strong and independent supervision. Singapore has such a system where along with emission tests, safety and fitness aspects like brakes, steering, head lights, wheel alignment, etc. are also checked on the computer controlled automated equipment.
Vehicle Scrappage or Replacement:
Vehicle scrappage or replacement programmes are designed to eliminate the most polluting vehicles (gross polluters) that are responsible for a disproportionate share of vehicular air pollutant emissions in a given area. An effective vehicle Inspection and Maintenance system that accurately measures emissions is an important pre-requisite for selecting highly emitting vehicles for scrappage.
In practice, in developing countries like India, in the absence of an adequate infrastructure for measuring emissions, vehicle age is often used as a proxy- only vehicles older than a certain age are considered for scrapping. Once gross polluters are identified in some fashion, the next question is whether they should be repaired or scrapped. If the cost of repairing the vehicle to reduce emissions to a reasonably low level exceeds the market value of the vehicle, then the vehicle should be scraped.
Where the severity of the air quality problem so warrants (like Delhi in India), it may be appropriate to consider vehicle scrappage or replacement programme. Such measures are likely to be most cost effective when applied to intensively used vehicles such as buses, minibuses, auto rickshaws, taxis and trucks. These vehicles have high emission levels in proportion to their numbers in the vehicle fleet. Replacing them with new, low-emission vehicles can often reduce emission from those vehicles by 70 percent or more.
Vehicle fleets in many Indian cities are characterized by a large number of old, poorly maintained and high-emitting vehicles. Although the value of these vehicles may not be high, low labour costs for repairs make it feasible to keep them in operation. In Hyderabad city, 1200 out of 2264 buses, 14,000 out of 36,372 trucks, 12,000 out of 49,000 three wheelers autos, 2.3 lakhs out of 8.25 lakh two wheelers and 35,000 out of 1.10 lakh cars have completed 15 years as on 1 April 2001.
Substantial reduction of pollutant emissions is possible if these old vehicles in Hyderabad city are scrapped and replaced by latest vehicles.
A recent Central Pollution Control Board study of CO emissions from pre-1990, post 01/04/1996 and post 01/04/2000 of Indian cars, 2 and 3 wheelers is indicted in Table 12.1 below:
It can be observed from the above study, that old cars pollute 16 times more than new cars. Old two wheelers pollute 17 times more than new two wheelers. Hence substantial reduction of vehicular air pollution in Indian cities is possible if old vehicles are replaced. However cost effectiveness of vehicle scrappage policies should be worked out and compared with other options for reducing air pollution in major cities.
Even where active vehicle replacement programmes are not existing or warranted, care should be taken to see that the vehicle tax structure does not encourage the retention of old vehicles in-service, and preferably, that it acts to encourage purchase of new emission controlled vehicles.
Very high “life time tax” introduced in many Indian States in the recent years, discourages scrapping of old vehicles and acts as a disincentive in replacing a vehicle. On this count, life-time tax deserves to be scrapped. Flat or increasing annual tax on vehicles as a function of age is preferable to “life tax” from emissions stand-point.
Typical example of an effective vehicle replacement programme is from Hungary, where the city of Budapest initiated the “green-two-stroke” programme, which provided public transport passes to car owners in exchange for voluntary scrappage of high polluting cars.
This programme also allowed car owners to sell their Trabants and Wartbugs (former East-German two- stroke engine cars) to the city for a higher price than the prevailing market rate and to use the money as part of down payment on new cars equipped with emission controls. In 1994, 14,000 car owners applied to exchange their cars for public transport passes.
In February 1994, a car replacement programme was introduced in France. This programme entitled owners of cars older than 10 years to replace them with a new car for $936. Within a year 450,000 old cars had been replaced by new cars that complied with the latest emission standards. This programme generated a noticeable reduction in motor vehicle pollutant emissions — within a year CO emissions had fallen by 6 percent.
Mexican authorities could replace about 63,000 taxis in Mexico City through financing at subsidised interest rates Nepal reduced import duties on electric mini buses to replace older diesel equivalents operating in Kathmandu.
Public transport franchising policies can be effective in reducing particulate pollution from buses. In Bagota Colombia, older buses were forced to be scrapped through an effective and well regulated franchise system.
Vehicle Retrofit Programmes:
Once gross polluters are identified in some fashion, the next question is whether they should be repaired or scrapped. If the cost of repairing exceeds the market value of the vehicle- then the vehicle is scrapped. In the case of repairing, rather than simply repairing to the original vehicle specifications, retrofitting with more recent technology engines and parts is often an effective strategy.
Where a vehicle was originally manufactured without emission controls but remains in reasonable condition (like pre 1991 or 1996 vehicles in India), retrofitting emission controls may be a cost effective option to reduce emissions. Depending on the situation, retrofit may be accomplished by adding components like turbo chargers, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) equipment, catalytic converters, replacing the engine with one designed for low emissions, retrofitting a CNG/LPG engine, etc.
Fitting catalytic converters is the most obvious retrofit for which incentives have been offered in Germany and Hungary for many years. In U.S., engine re-build/retrofit to comply with the latest emission standards is mandated in urban buses. Retrofitment/replacement of engines in the In-use vehicles is technically feasible and is likely to reduce pollution significantly. However retrofitting of new engine in old in-use vehicles is cost-effective if the overall condition of the vehicle is good enough so that the investment made on the new engine will give justifiable returns.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers is of the view that there is a possibility of replacement of old engines by new Euro-2 compliant engines and the emission benefits can be from 50 percent to 80 percent. According to a recent SIAM study, retrofitting of catalytic converters in two and three wheelers is expected to reduce CO and HC emissions by 45% and 49% respectively.
Retrofit strategies are especially appropriate for heavy duty vehicles such as buses, mini buses and trucks. This is because these vehicles have high levels of emissions, long lives, and high usage levels and thus produce large amounts of pollution, particularly visible smoke and particulate matter emissions.
Retrofitting these vehicles can therefore be reasonably cost-effective. Also, heavy vehicles are normally designed so that extra space is available and major components such as engines are interchangeable, thus simplifying the retrofit process. Passenger cars, in contrast, tend to be designed as an integrated system, making them more difficult to retrofit.
A successful retrofit requires considerable care and engineering development work. Because of the expense involved in development, retrofitting will generally be most cost effective where a large number of vehicles of similar type and design are available for retrofit. Examples include urban buses, garbage collection fleets and urban delivery fleets. The highest priority for retrofit programme should go to transit buses.
Between 1991 and 1995 about 4100 urban buses in Mexico City were retrofitted with new engines to reduce pollutant emissions. In 1996 about 1000 heavy duty diesel fueled vehicles installed catalytic converters. In addition, under a government sponsored programme 27,000 buses and trucks and 1300 mini buses have their fuel systems converted to LPG.
In Hungary, the Government has initiated a five year programme to persuade owners of old cars to install catalytic converters with financial assistance upto 60 percent of the cost of retrofitting catalytic converters.
Relocation of Vehicles:
Where the existing older vehicle fleet retains a significant economic value, relocation of the vehicle to smaller towns and villages outside major urban areas may be a useful approach. This makes it possible to retain much of the economic value of the vehicle for the society while still removing it from the urban areas, where air pollution is a major problem.
While total emissions remain the same, the lower vehicle ownership and use in the country side results in lower pollutant concentrations and the lower population density means that fewer people are exposed to lower levels of emissions. This is a good policy for developing countries including India. The governments can think of incentives like fee exemption for registration in new place, differential taxes between urban and rural areas and emission taxes based on actual emissions in urban areas for voluntary relocation of old vehicles in rural areas.
Costs and Benefits of I & M Programme:
The major costs associated with an I & M programme are the cost of operating the I & M programme and the repair costs- which apply only to vehicles that fail the inspection test. A centralized programme is likely to have higher start-up costs than a decentralized programme because of higher costs associated with constructing centralized inspection stations.
Decentralised programmes are less expensive to set up than centralized programmes but are more expensive to operate. Repair expenditure is a legitimate cost of I & M programmes. However much of the repair cost information is not reported and not documented. Studies indicate that in U.S.A the repair costs vary between U.S $40 – $250.
Among the benefits of I & M programme are the emission improvements and fuel economy. Fuel savings have been attributed to the improved vehicle maintenance practices associated with an effective I & M programme. Fuel savings range from 0 to 7 percent.
In calculating the cost effectiveness of its programmes, the U.S EPA uses a figure of 3.5 percent fuel economy through I & M programmes. Some of the very effective I & M programmes have shown fuel economy ranging from 6 to 19 percent. It was about 20 percent in ARAI Pune’s recent study.
An effective I & M programme significantly reduces HC and CO emissions from vehicles. The U.S EPA has estimated the cost effectiveness of hydrocarbon emission reduction from the United States vehicle fleet using enhanced I & M at about U.S $ 500 per ton – a very cost effective option. A World Bank study for Mexico estimated the cost per ton of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. It estimated the cost-effectiveness as U. S $ 839 per ton of HC for centralized programmes.
Emission Warranty and Recall System:
Warranty programmes are intended to provide effective recourse to consumers against manufacturers when individual vehicles fail to meet the in-use emission standards and to discourage the manufacturers of such vehicles. Vehicle manufacturers are required to provide a warranty to consumers for defective design or workmanship.
According to U.S. Federal law, an emission control, or emission related part or a specified major emission control component that fails because of a defect in material or workmanship must be repaired or replaced by the vehicle manufacturer free of charge as long as the vehicle has not exceeded the warranty time or mileage limitation for the failed part.
In India, the responsibility of emission performance of an in- use vehicle totally rests with vehicle owner, and the vehicle manufacturer is completely unaware of the emission performance of the vehicle once it is sold. In India, vehicle owners do not get emission warranty benefits as in U.S.A or Europe. After detailed study Mashelkar Committee recommended introduction of an effective emission warranty and recall system to improve the involvement and responsibility of vehicle manufacturers in the emissions performance of in-use vehicles.
In U.S, federal requirements of emission control warranties protect the vehicle owners from the cost of repairs for certain emission related failures that result from defects in materials or manufacturing that cause a vehicle to exceed federal emission standards. Vehicle manufacturers in U.S have been required by federal law to provide emission control coverage for vehicles since 1972.
In U.S there are two federal emission control warranties viz.:
1. Performance warranty and
2. Design and defect warranty.
Performance warranty covers repairs which are to be carried out during the first 2 years or 24,000 miles of vehicle use because of die vehicle having failed an emission test. Specified major emission control components are covered for the first 8 years or 80,000 miles.
During the first 2 years or 24,000 miles of vehicle use, the performance warranty covers any repair or adjustment which is necessary to make the vehicle pass an approved locally-required emission test so long as the vehicle has been properly maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Design and defective warranty coverage varies according to the type of vehicle (e.g., heavy duty trucks, motor cycles or cars have different time and mileage requirements). Vehicles in use in certain places (like California State) are entitled to additional warranty coverage.
When the State or local government agency finds a batch of on-road vehicles of the same type and vintage not meeting the test requirements and when it has reason to believe that the total batch needs rectification owing to defects of emission related parts, the agency issues a letter to the concerned manufacturer to call back all the vehicles of the batch and rectify the defects free of cost. The manufacturers after getting such notice from an agency, separately issues a call-back notice to each and every owner of the vehicle of the batch for effecting the repairs.
Vehicle Manufacturers are required to recall vehicles in case of non-compliance with emission standards. Recall programmes allow manufacturers to design and produce vehicles with a margin of safety to avoid the cost and negative publicity associated with recalls. U.S emissions regulations require vehicles to meet emission standards throughout their useful lives, if maintained according to manufacturer’s specifications.
U.S. authorities have instituted extensive testing programmes to guard against increases in emissions resulting from defective emission controls in customer use. Several hundred vehicles are temporarily procured every year from consumers for testing.
If the vehicles do not comply in the testing, the manufacturers are ordered to recall the vehicles for modifications or repairs to bring them within the prescribed standards. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are recalled in this manner each year.
The expenses and consumer dissatisfaction generated by emission recalls have induced vehicle manufacturers to develop far more durable vehicles and to establish internal emission targets for new vehicles that are much stricter than legal standards.
Most manufacturers design for a margin of about 50 per cent between the certified standards and the manufacturing standards in order to provide a reasonable allowance for in-use deterioration. Thus, to ensure in-use compliance with a standard of 0.2 grams per km. of PM, most manufacturers would set a development target of 0.1 grams per km. As a result, the emissions performance of in-use vehicles in U.S has improved significantly.
With effect from 1 July 2001, the automobile industry in India has offered on their own a form of emission warranty for all new passenger cars, 2/3 wheelers and commercial vehicles as indicated in Table 12.2 below:
This form of warranty is based on idling emission tests only, and this does not have any legal binding. According to SIAM, the existing Conformity of Production (COP) system as applicable to new vehicles is a sort of recall system. The Conformity of Production (COP) system calls for authorities or testing agencies to select random samples from production batch and test them for conformity of mass emissions.
Hence if the batch fails the emission tests, the vehicle manufacturers are liable take corrective measures. Once the batch passes this test, the manufacturers are not legally bound to address any performance rectification or corrective action of the vehicles on-road.
A comparative study of warranty and recall systems in India and U.S indicates that there is considerable scope to reduce in-use vehicle emissions through effective warranty and recall systems in India. The involvement and responsibility of vehicle manufacturers has to be increased to make the warranty and recall legislation more effective.