Not very exacting
Regulations ignore key technical parameters
While new norms are adopted, durability requirements and in-use compliance measures are not strengthened to ensure that vehicles remain low emitting during their lifetime. Facilities in testing agencies are inadequate and tests expensive. As a proxy, a deterioration factor is adopted to keep the emissions levels at least 20 per cent lower than the norm at the time of the manufacture so that after wear and tear they do not go terribly off spec. But in contrast to the practice in countries like the US, no further in-use compliance testing is carried out to check if major deterioration has happened after long usage. Though under Euro IV norms the durability requirement is expected to increase to 100,000 km from the current 80,000 km, its effectiveness can be in doubt if certification and compliance testing are not carried out rigorously enough.
Yet another key technical compliance strategy that the industry has dodged so far is the implementation of on-board diagnostic systems (OBD) up to Euro III standards. Europe and the US have introduced OBD, linking it to inspection and maintenance systems. OBD tools are used to monitor almost all components that can affect emissions. They record emissions-related malfunctions and violations that inspectors and technicians can find, monitor and fix. Indian industry has resisted OBD. According to the latest decision taken by the Standing Committee for Emissions Regulations set up under the Union ministry of shipping, road transport, and highways, industry will begin to install OBD in Euro IV-compliant models to generate data but use for enforcement will be put off until 2013.