Govt mandates AC-fitted truck cabins from October 2025. Details here

livemint.com:

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a new notification mandating that all trucks manufactured after October 2025 must be equipped with AC cabins for drivers. The gazette notification, issued on Friday evening, will apply to trucks in the N2 and N3 categories.

The notification by the MoRTH read(as quoted by Times of India), “the vehicles manufactured on or after the October 1, 2025 shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 and N3 category". Category N2: Means a motor vehicles used for carriage of goods and having a Gross vehicle Weight exceeding 3.5 tons but not exceeding 12 tons.

Category N3: Means a motor vehicle used for carriage of goods and having a Gross vehicle Weight exceeding 12 tons. Earlier this year, a draft notification was issued by MoRTH that mandated the installation of air conditioning systems in the cabins of motor vehicles belonging to N2 and N3 categories albeit from an earlier date of January 1, 2025.

The draft notification read, “Provided further that vehicles manufactured on or after 1st January 2025 shall be fitted with an air conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 and N3 category. The testing of the cabin fitted with air-conditioning system shall be as per IS14618:2022, as amended from time to time," stated the draft notification.

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has also earlier highlighted the important role played by truck drivers in the transport sector of the country while noting that there is a need to address issues regarding their working conditions. Lamenting that truck drivers have been forced to work in extreme heat conditions, the minister had earlier said that he has been pushing for air-conditioned cabins for