Stop selling devices that disable car seatbelt alarms: Government asks Amazon

The ecommerce retail giant Amazon, has been asked by the Indian government to immediately stop selling devices that disable car seatbelt alarms, transport minister Nitin Gadkari told Reuters, citing potential safety risks. Albeit, the sales of the metal clips that disable seatbelt alarms isn't illegal yet, such devices and other road safety issues have come under the radar after the untimely death of business tycoon Cyrus Mistry earlier this month in a road crash.

Media reports have claimed that Mistry wasn't wearing seatbelt while being sitted in the second row of his Mercedes SUV. The event has reignited the road safety debate in the country once again which is one of the world's largest car market.

In an interview with Reuters, Gadkari said that metal clips purchased from the ecommerce websites are inserted in seatbelt slots to bypass the alarm that keeps on pinging until seatbelts are fastened. "People buy clips from Amazon to evade wearing seatbelts. We have sent a notice to Amazon to stop (selling these)," Gadkari said.

Previously it was quoted that road accidents in India have killed over 1.5 lakh people in 2021, and the country had a death on its roads every four minutes. Read more.

Late evening on Tuesday, Gadkari had told that the Indian Government will soon make it mandatory for all passengers to wear seatbelts in cars, irrespective of the row. Defaulters will attract fine for not adhering to the law. Gadkari also added that while there is already a law for rear row seatbelts, it's high time Indians learn to start following it. In addition to that, Gadkari has also shared that the government will also push automakers to introduce seatbelt safety alarms for the rear seat. Read more.