Ludhiana: Bicycle manufacturers in Punjab's Ludhiana are up in arms against the Centre's move to make the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards)-certified reflectors compulsory on bicycles from January 1, 2023. The Department of Promotion of Industry and International Trade of the Central Government has issued orders that 10 to 12 reflectors must be installed on a bicycle from January 1, 2023 failing which the manufacturers will be penalized.
"The bicycle manufacturers and spare part dealers of Ludhiana where 92 percent of India's bicycles are manufactured have opposed the move. In protest against the move, the factories have stopped manufacturing the bicycles since January 1," United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association said. The protesting trades said that bicycle manufacturers have been asked to install 10 reflectors on each bicycle.
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According to the order, the bicycle manufacturers also need to pay an annual fee of Rs 56,000 to BIS for annual audit of reflectors inside their manufacturing unit. The traders said that if the stock of a manufacturer is found without reflectors, they can be jailed for two years and fined up to Rs 2 lakh as well. United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association president DS Chawla said, "We were not against the mandatory installation of the reflectors, but we are definitely against the heavy fee and fine under the new rules".
“We make reflectors and give them along with the bicycle, but if the rider does not install the reflector or the dealer does not install the reflector, then what is the fault of the bicycle manufacturer?” he asked. The United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association on Monday held a sit-in at their office and threatened of hunger strike if their demands were not met.
In Ludhiana, about 10 lakh people are directly or indirectly involved in the bicycle business. About one and a half crore bicycles are manufactured annually in Ludhiana and 92 percent of the parts used in the bicycle are supplied to the entire country from Ludhiana. Significantly enough, there are only three companies that manufacture BIS standard reflectors in the country.
With the number of bicycles in the country in crores, three companies cannot fulfil the requirement of installing reflectors on these bicycles, the protesting traders said. They said that the centre's decree of mandatory reflectors will lead to the creation of cartels in view of a ban on Chinese reflectors.
