ADAS Will Be Mandatory In Vehicles Carrying 8 Passengers From 2026: MoRTH

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), in a draft notification, has announced that from April 2026, all new vehicles which can accommodate more than 8 passengers will require to have a version of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). These vehicles, which will comprise cars and SUVs, trucks and buses.

The ADAS in these vehicles will require to have an Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS), driver drowsiness and attention warning system (DDAWS) and lane departure warning system (LDWS). New models introduced after April 2026 will need to have these safety features, while existing models will need to implement this by October 2026. 

In India, there are a few 8-seater cars on sale currently such as the Toyota Innova Hycross, Toyota Innova Crysta, Maruti Suzuki Invicto and Force Citiline. Of these, only the Hycross gets ADAS, implying that Toyota, Maruti Suzuki and Force will need to refresh these models and offer them with ADAS. 

MoRTH has also proposed to make serious amends to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), with plans to introduce new safety features and make ADAS mandatory. This will help prevent accidents and applying brakes automatically if there’s a delay in response. 

In the draft notification, both mini and regular buses as well as trucks, which are manufactured after the specified timeline will need all the aforementioned safety features. The changes proposed in the CMVR include the inclusion of a blind spot monitoring system for trucks and buses. This system will allow the drivers of these vehicles to avoid crashing into motorists and pedestrians that fall into their blind spot, which is a large area considering the size of the vehicles. 

AEBS is a system that first alerts the driver of an imminent collision with the vehicle in front and if the driver fails to react in time, the system applies the brakes automatically in order to either prevent the collision or mitigate the severity of the collision. LDWS will help keep the drivers attentive by sending alerts if the vehicle starts veering off the lane by providing visual, auditory, or haptic feedback to prompt corrective action. DDAWS will monitor if the driver is feeling drowsy using the various sensors and warn the driver using auditory alerts.