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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued draft notifications on 3 August 2026 proposing amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for the phased introduction of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication systems, and separately for a regulatory framework for two-wheeled road ambulances.
V2V will use the 5.875–5.925 GHz band, which the Department of Telecommunications exempted from licensing through G.S.R. 466(E) dated 10 June 2026.
Vehicles of categories L, M and N made on or after 1 October 2027 must comply with AIS-230 if they are fitted with V2V systems; from 1 October 2028 such vehicles must be fitted with V2V systems conforming to AIS-230.
AIS-230 covers factory-installed On-Board Units using Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technology and phases in safety use cases including Emergency Brake Alert, Forward Collision Warning, Wrong-way Driving and Emergency Vehicle Alert.
The second draft proposes that L2-category two-wheeled road ambulances made on or after 1 October 2027 comply with AIS-209 (Part 1):2026; they will be treated as transport vehicles with a fitness certificate renewable every two years, and may ply in areas determined by the State Government.
V2V lets nearby vehicles broadcast and receive real-time messages about their own state — speed, position, direction of travel, acceleration — so that a vehicle can be warned about something its own sensors cannot see. That is the crucial difference from existing safety systems. Cameras, radar and lidar in an Advanced Driver Assistance System work by line of sight: they see the car directly ahead. V2V works past it, so a driver can be warned that the third vehicle in a queue has braked hard, that a vehicle is coming the wrong way round a bend, or that an ambulance is approaching from behind an obstruction. The draft specifies Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), which uses cellular radio technology rather than a Wi-Fi-derived protocol, and requires On-Board Units to be factory-installed. AIS-230 sets minimum technical, functional, performance, environmental and security requirements — including radio performance and frequency stability, receiver sensitivity and selectivity, GNSS positioning, power supply, electromagnetic compatibility, and cybersecurity provisions, since a spoofed 'emergency braking' message would be a safety hazard rather than a safety feature.
Simple Analogy: ADAS is a driver with very good eyes. V2V is every driver on the road agreeing to call out what they are doing — so you learn about the sudden stop four cars ahead before you can see it.
Enable connected-vehicle safety warnings beyond line of sight and lay the technical foundation for Intelligent Transportation Systems in India.
Key: Two-step timeline: vehicles of categories L, M and N manufactured on or after 1 October 2027 must comply with AIS-230 where a V2V system is fitted; from 1 October 2028 fitment of an AIS-230-compliant system becomes mandatory. Safety use cases are introduced in phases — Emergency Brake Alert, Forward Collision Warning, Wrong-way Driving and Emergency Vehicle Alert. The staggering exists to give manufacturers and suppliers time to prepare.
Close a regulatory gap: two-wheeled road ambulances are currently not a distinct vehicle category under the CMVR, so nothing governs their construction, functional safety, patient-handling systems, type approval, registration or fitness inspection.
Key: Adopts AIS-209 (Part 1):2026 — 'Construction and Functional Requirements for Life Support Two-Wheeled Road Ambulances' — for L2-category vehicles made on or after 1 October 2027, including their emergency top lights. They will be transport vehicles subject to fitness certification renewed every two years, and may be registered to ply in areas determined by the respective State Government. The standard covers vehicle stability and braking, parking brake and gradeability, rear visibility, coupling integrity, conspicuity and warning devices, and safe patient loading, restraint and protection from environmental exposure.
Constituted by the Ministry for the development and implementation of ITS in India, with specific emphasis on V2V communication.
Key: Recommended use of the 5.9 GHz ITS/V2X frequency range for improving road safety — the recommendation that the DoT's de-licensing of 5.875–5.925 GHz then made usable.
The subordinate legislation under the Motor Vehicles Act that carries construction, equipment and safety requirements for vehicles. Both proposals take effect as amendments to these Rules, following the standard route: draft notification, 30 days for comments, then final notification.
Exempts the 5.875–5.925 GHz band from licensing requirements — without de-licensed spectrum, every V2V-equipped vehicle would need a radio licence, which is administratively impossible at fleet scale.
Automotive Industry Standards. A draft AIS is examined by the CMVR-Technical Standing Committee — AIS-230 was taken up at its 56th meeting on 7 May 2026 — before being referenced in the Rules, which is the step that converts a technical standard into a legal requirement.
Defines the golden hour as the period of up to one hour following a traumatic injury during which prompt medical care has the highest likelihood of preventing death. It is the clinical rationale for a two-wheeled ambulance category, which exists to reach patients in congested, rural or hilly terrain that a four-wheeled ambulance cannot.
Shields a person who voluntarily and without expectation of reward renders emergency care at an accident scene, or transports the victim to hospital, from civil or criminal liability arising from their negligence in doing so. The same road-safety logic — reduce what stands between an injured person and care within the golden hour.
Issues the draft and final notifications amending the CMVR, and constituted the Task Force on Intelligent Transportation Systems with emphasis on V2V.
The technical committee that examines automotive standards before they are referenced in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules; it considered the formulation of AIS-230 at its 56th meeting on 7 May 2026.
Controls spectrum allocation and licensing. Its notification G.S.R. 466(E) of 10 June 2026 exempted the 5.875–5.925 GHz band from licensing, making it usable for V2V and other ITS applications.
India's own new car assessment programme, in effect from October 2023, which awards star ratings for crashworthiness based on Automotive Industry Standard AIS-197, testing adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies. It is the demand-side counterpart to rules like these: AIS-230 mandates a safety technology, Bharat NCAP rewards manufacturers who go beyond the mandate.
| Aspect | V2V communication systems | Two-wheeled road ambulances |
|---|---|---|
| Standard adopted | AIS-230 | AIS-209 (Part 1):2026 |
| Vehicle categories | L, M and N | L2 |
| Key date | 1 Oct 2027 (comply if fitted); 1 Oct 2028 (fitment mandatory) | 1 Oct 2027 for vehicles and their emergency top lights |
| Core requirement | Factory-installed On-Board Unit using C-V2X in 5.875–5.925 GHz | Construction, stability, braking, patient restraint and conspicuity requirements |
| Regulatory status created | A new equipment mandate | A new distinct vehicle category, treated as a transport vehicle |
| Ongoing compliance | Type approval against AIS-230 | Fitness certificate renewed every two years, with dedicated inspection checks |
These are the internationally used construction categories that Indian rules follow — L for two- and three-wheelers, M for passenger-carrying motor vehicles with four or more wheels, N for goods-carrying vehicles. The V2V mandate covers all three, while the ambulance framework applies only to L2, a sub-class of the two-wheeler category.
Spectrum in India is normally licensed and assigned. A safety technology fitted in every new vehicle cannot work on licensed spectrum, so DoT's exemption of 5.875–5.925 GHz through G.S.R. 466(E) is the enabling act without which the AIS-230 timeline would be unworkable — a good example of two ministries' instruments having to line up.
AIS-230 includes cybersecurity and communication-security provisions among its principal requirements. In a V2V network a false message is not a data breach but a crash risk, which is why security sits alongside radio performance and GNSS positioning rather than being treated as an IT afterthought.
Both proposals follow the same route — a draft notification under the CMVR, comments examined after 30 days, then a final notification. Until the final notification issues, nothing in either draft is binding; this is the standard distinction between a proposed and a notified rule.
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In which year is the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) scheduled for launch?
Answer: 2028
Vehicle safety standards and CMVR amendments appear several times a year; connected-mobility technology is a rising science and technology theme.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication — real-time exchange of speed, position, direction and acceleration data between nearby vehicles.
Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything — the cellular-technology-based communication method specified in AIS-230 for factory-installed On-Board Units.
Automotive Industry Standard — technical standards referenced in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules; AIS-230 covers V2V, AIS-209 (Part 1):2026 two-wheeled ambulances, AIS-197 the Bharat NCAP crash test protocol.
Advanced Driver Assistance System — onboard sensor-based safety systems that V2V is intended to complement, not replace.
Under Section 2(12A) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the period of up to one hour after a traumatic injury during which prompt medical care has the highest chance of preventing death.
The two-wheeler sub-category to which the proposed two-wheeled road ambulance framework applies.