Quadricycle to run from 1 Oct 2014 across the country

A new category of four-wheelers - Quadricycle - will be allowed to run in cities across the country from 1 October 2014. The objective is  to largely replace the auto-rickshaws. The emission norms of these vehicles will be better than auto-rickshaws.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will issue the gazette notification with respect to this shortly as the proposal has been vetted by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Quadricycle is more efficient on security and safety concerns as it had introduced the provision of seatbelts and braking system like that of cars, which falls under M1 category of vehicles.

As a safety measure, it will be mandatory for such vehicles to have seatbelts for both the occupants in the front and two in the rear seat.

These features are significant since there is no provision for carrying out crash tests for these vehicles. Several automobile manufacturers had called the vehicle unsafe, forcing introduction of the changes.

Quadricycles will have hard top and doors. The weight of the battery was excluded from the vehicle curb weight to promote no carbon emission.