Critically evaluate whether India's motor vehicle regulatory framework is prepared for the entry of driverless/autonomous vehicles.

India's vehicle regulation rests on the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, built around a licensed human driver and type-approval by testing agencies. With 1.72 lakh road deaths in 2023 [2], automation promises safety gains — but the Act's driver-centric design makes India only partially ready for steering-less vehicles.

Areas of preparedness

• Statutory flexibility: the MV (Amendment) Act, 2019 empowers the Centre to notify schemes for national transport policy, vehicle recall and aggregator regulation, giving hooks for fleet-based robotaxi oversight [1].
• Testing capacity: Bharat NCAP, notified by MoRTH, added Safety Assist Technologies as a rating pillar, mainstreaming ADAS evaluation domestically [3].
• Policy vision: NITI Aayog's National Strategy for AI identifies smart mobility and transportation as a focus sector, signalling official engagement with autonomy [4].
• Data governance: the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 supplies a baseline for sensor and location data generated by connected vehicles [5].

Gaps and constraints

• Definitional void: the Act presumes a "driver" holding a licence; liability under Sections on rash driving and compensation cannot attach to software.
• No certification route for control-free vehicles: India lacks even an exemption mechanism. The US NHTSA's 2026 audit query into Tesla's Cybercab self-certification shows that mature regimes, too, struggle when FMVSS-type rules assume steering wheels and pedals [6].
• Chaotic road environment: mixed traffic, poor lane discipline and weak signage defeat perception systems trained abroad; highways carry over half of fatalities [2].
• Socio-economic resistance: the government has repeatedly signalled reluctance on employment grounds, given the millions dependent on driving livelihoods.
• No accident-investigation or ethical-liability protocol for algorithmic decisions.

On balance, India possesses enabling statutes and testing institutions but not the specific legal category, certification pathway or liability rules that autonomy demands. A phased approach — notifying an AV definition under the 1988 Act, creating regulatory sandboxes in controlled corridors, and mandating data-recorder and product-liability norms — would let India convert automation into a genuine instrument of SDG 3.6 road-safety gains without sacrificing accountability.