Government revises new axle load norms

The government on Tuesday announced two major changes in the new axle load norms. According to the revised norms, the maximum safe axle weight has been changed to 7 tonnes from 7.5 tonnes in the single axle with two tyres.

The revised norms also clarified that vehicles that got Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) approval before July 16 and the models which already have a Type approval from the agency will not need any new changes and they can automatically shift to the new Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).

This came in as a relief for the industry as they were worried about the fact they have to re-engineer and re-certify all of the current models.