Rules & Regulations for Importing Cars in India

Rules & Regulations for Importing Cars in India

India has huge market for imported luxury cars. There is great demand for new cars as well as second-hand cars. The Exim Policy 2001 lifted quantitative restrictions on the import of second-hand cars.

The import of vehicles shall be subject to the following guidelines of the Government of India:

1. (I) A new imported vehicle shall mean a vehicle that: -

(a) has not been manufactured/assembled in India; and
(b) has not been sold, leased or loaned prior to importation into India; or
(c) has not been registered for use in any country according to the laws of that country, prior to importation into India.

(II) The import of new vehicles shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a) The new vehicle shall-

(i) have a speedometer indicating the speed in km / h;
(ii) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers);
(iii) have photometry of the headlamps to suit "keep-left" traffic; and
(iv) be imported from the country of manufacture.

(b) In addition, the new vehicle shall conform to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the rules made thereunder, as applicable, on the date of import.

(c) The import of new vehicles shall be permitted only through the Customs port at Nhava Sheva (Mumbai), Calcutta and Chennai.

2. (I) A second hand or used vehicle shall mean a vehicle that :-

(a) has been sold, leased or loaned prior to importation into India; or
(b) has been registered for use in any country according to the laws of that country, prior to importation into India;

(II). The import of second had or used vehicles shall be subject to the following conditions:-

(a) The second hand or used vehicle shall not be older than three years from the date of manufacture;
(b) The second hand or used vehicle shall:

(i) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers);
(ii) have a speedometer indicating the speed km / h; and
(iii) have photometry of the headlamps to suit "keep left" traffic.

(c) In addition, the second hand or used vehicle shall conform to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and the rules made thereunder, as applicable, on the date of import.

(d) Import of second hand vehicles shall be allowed only through the customs port at Mumbai.

(e) The second hand or used vehicles imported into India should have a minimum roadworthiness for a period of 5 years from the date of importation into India with assurance for providing service facilities within the country during the five year period. For this purpose, the importer shall, at the time of importation, submit a declaration indicating the period of roadworthiness in respect of every individual vehicle being imported, supported by a certificate issued by any of the testing agencies, which the Central Government may notify in this regard.

(f) The vehicle has to be submitted for testing to Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar, of the Ministry of Defence or the Automotive Research Association of India, Pune or the Central Farm and Machinery Training and Testing Institute, Budni, Madhya Pradesh, and such other agencies as may be specified by the Central Government, for granting a certificate by that agency as to the compliance of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and any rules made thereunder.

Source: http://www.iloveindia.com/cars/imported-cars/index.html

P.S: Any other missed out info, please post them here!

Great info swaps. What they mean by right hand controls? Logan, Fiats used to have controls for LHD. Logan even has the LHD wiper pattern. If they allow production in India, why not import?

What is duty for importing a new and old vehicle?

now its a rule that u cannot import a LHD vehicle... u have to convert it to RHD before u get it to india...

and what about the import duties at present??

swapszone wrote:(ii) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers)

Right hand steering is OK. What is the control? It is Indicator on right and wipers on left right?

for vehicles have them the other way right?? why are they available in india legally then?

There is no such rule however most foreign cars have indicators on left stalk and wiper on the right.

Excellent info Swapszone.

i mean ford vehicles like the old ikon, have indiacatoor levers on the left and the viper levers on the right and theis car is available legally in india so what about that?

Just the information I was looking.... What happens if someone wants to import a classic left hand drive car? Is this allowed?

i dont think it is allowed but i saw few left handed jeeps in the city though

Crazy cat wrote:

swapszone wrote:(ii) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers)

Right hand steering is OK. What is the control? It is Indicator on right and wipers on left right?

yup... u are rite

abhinavgupta wrote:There is no such rule however most foreign cars have indicators on left stalk and wiper on the right.

Excellent info Swapszone.

thanks... but the rule does exist

Zal wrote:Just the information I was looking.... What happens if someone wants to import a classic left hand drive car? Is this allowed?

no... its no longer allowed
u will have to get it converted to RHD
i know a person who wanted to get the GTR imported to india... it had to be imported for the country where they use RHD cars

swapszone wrote:

Crazy cat wrote:

swapszone wrote:(ii) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers)

Right hand steering is OK. What is the control? It is Indicator on right and wipers on left right?

yup... u are rite

Then if Indian made cars have left hand controls, why not imported cars shouldn't have these?

well thats a difficult question to answer

i didnt think india would have such tough rules. Here in nz you can import anything and keep it a left hand drive if you have owned the car for 3 moths in the country it was from. I guess if i move to india my dreams of owning a c3 will be gone.

u can get it converted to a RHD
i heard that its not that difficult to convert LHD to RHD in NZ and AUS

Converting to RHD? I guess it'll be expensive, as new dashboard and some mods are needed. How will be the perfection of this job?

as per my knowledge, there has not been any problem in such a conversion and the job has been perfect
its not INDIA

swapszone wrote:u can get it converted to a RHD
i heard that its not that difficult to convert LHD to RHD in NZ and AUS

I should know I'm from AUST/nz. It cost $30000 so x30 for RS. They do one hell of a job, I really want to see how they do it...

Oh and BTW the video I have put up of my doc's Hummer H2 its been converted RHD.

hi, i think most new dashboards, when u observe the left and right will havesomewhat the same cuttings, if ujust imagine placing the steering and odometer panel towards the opposite side it'll fit well. may be a designing to swap between left and right.(it's just my observation)