Road Min asks state govts to determine penalty for GM India

Penalty will be determined as per the Motor Vehicles Act

Weeks after setting up the panel for investigating violation of emission norms by General Motors, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked state governments to determine the penalty for the auto major.

"The state governments concerned, where these productions units are, they are being asked to look at the extent of the faults and determine the penalty," Road Secretary Vijay Chibber told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event.

He said the penalty if any will be determined as per the Motor Vehicles Act.

"The Motor Vehicles Act provides for financial and other penalties. So let us see if the state governments concerned identify the penalty," Chibber said.

On asked whether the ministry has received complaints of some other auto companies which are not complying with the emission standards, he said, "We are not aware of any."

Road Ministry set up a panel last month to probe into the recall of 1.14 lakh units of Chevrolet Tavera by General Motors India for violation of emission norms.

The committee headed by Nitin Gokarn, CEO, National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), is likely to submit its report soon.

General Motors has dismissed several employees for violation of company policy with regard to recall of Chevrolet Tavera in India.

GM India had stopped production and sale of the Tavera BSIII on June 4 and the Tavera BSIV on July 2.

Nearly 2 lakh units of automobiles, mostly four-wheelers, have been recalled by various companies in India since industry body SIAM announced voluntary recall policy for its members last July. After GM's recall last week, the figure has now crossed over three lakh.