'Serious loopholes in draft rules for fuel consumption norms'

The draft rules for measuring compliance with new fuel consumption standards have "serious loopholes", a green body today said and asserted that if not plugged, these can weaken the programme with severe climate change consequences and also fan massive dieselisation.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that the most "glaring" loophole is the permission given to car manufacturers to score higher points for selling diesel mild hybrids and asserted that this "misplaced" incentive can stoke massive dieselisation.
CSE said that the draft rules for monitoring and measuring compliance with the new fuel consumption standards for cars has been recently proposed by the Transport Ministry.

"The proposed compliance rules have allowed number of concessions for the car industry to score extra points for certain technologies for compliance with the norm. If this is not addressed immediately, it can seriously compromise and weaken the effectiveness of the programme," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE.
CSE said it was "unacceptable" that the new draft rules have not included any penalty for the car manufacturers for non-compliance while other countries have stringent penalty for manufacturers if they fail to meet the fuel economy target.
"The new standards meant to reduce energy and climate impact of motorisation are at serious risk of being diluted as the proposed implementation rules are beset with loopholes.

"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways must immediately step in to address the loopholes in the proposed draft. If not plugged immediately, these loopholes can weaken the programme at serious energy cost with severe climate change consequences and also fan massive dieselisation," CSE said.

Noting that the draft fuel efficiency norms are technically more complex to enforce, CSE said that these norms are enforced as sales weighted corporate average fuel consumption for each vehicle manufacturer based on what they sell in a year.
"Devil is in the detail of the calculation of the corporate average fuel consumption level of each manufacturer to assess compliance with the norm.

Noting that the proposed rules for compliance have
allowed manufacturers to get extra points for mild hybrid electric vehicles to comply with the corporate average standards, CSE said that this is a "regressive" step that undercuts the ongoing effort to control dieselisation.
"This is a regressive step when cities are battling toxic risk from growing dieselisation. Super credits should be given only for super efficient and zero emissions vehicles. Only plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles should be given super credits.
"Moreover, manufacturers are being allowed to score points for adopting other ineffective technologies on the presumption that these will allow fuel savings that cannot be quantified certification testing," the body said.

CSE said that the fuel economy norms will be introduced in two phases in India - 2017-18 and 2022-23. While these norms have been inordinately delayed these are also "very weak," it said.
Noting that these draft rules have not prescribed any penalty for the defaulter, the green body said that all that the proposed rules require for non-compliance is to submit a catch-up plan for the reporting period following the previous default year.
"If manufacturers fail even in the third consecutive year designated agency will have to report to Transport Ministry and Bureau of Energy Efficiency. There is nothing beyond reporting. This virtually means that non-compliance will be tolerated with no penal action for three years and even after that the matter will only be reported.

"The ministry of road transport and highways must immediately step in to address the loopholes and anomalies in the proposed draft rules for compliance with the fuel consumption standards for cars.
"It must take away the incentive for mild diesel hybrids and other inappropriate technologies and impose stringent penalty on manufacturers for non-compliance," CSE said.