Parivahan website gets vehicle recall portal. And this is how it helps you

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has added a dedicated vehicle recall portal on the Parivahan website. The step comes as an effort to help the vehicle owners to register complaints about defects of their vehicles.

The country has been working on its stance and policies to make the vehicle recall process transparent for the stakeholders. Also, such a move is expected to make the roads safer. This move came into effect on April 1, 2021.

Using this vehicle recall portal, users can lodge a complaint about manufacturing defects in their respective vehicles. These could be a faulty part or a software issue as well. However, the user can register a complaint only if his or her vehicle is less than seven years old.

After the complaint is registered on the portal, MoRTH will investigate the matter and might order the concerned automaker to issue a recall depending on the nature of the defect.

This move is quite similar to what is available in the US. In the US, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a similar system. The users can register their complaints about any vehicular issues. This results in an inspection by the agency and at times, NHTSA orders the concerned automakers to issue a recall for certain vehicles over the issue.

India currently has a voluntary recall policy for automakers. This allows the OEMs to issue recalls on their own whenever a defect in their respective vehicles is detected. The government has been advocating for making the vehicle recall process mandatory for quite some time. The latest move could accelerate the vehicle recall process in the country to be mandatory in near future.