India sets up National Road Safety Board amid soaring fatalities; debate on powers continues

With road fatalities reaching a record 1,77,175 in 2024, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' latest report, the Central government has finally constituted the National Road Safety Board (NRSB). The board, a statutory body under Section 215B of the Motor Vehicles Act, is tasked with advising the Centre and states on road safety measures.

The move has been welcomed as a significant institutional step. However, experts remain divided on whether its advisory role is sufficient to address India's road safety crisis or if it dilutes earlier proposals for a stronger regulatory body.

The NRSB was constituted on June 29 and comprises experts and officials from the Union and state governments. Its creation follows years of advocacy and legal pressure, including a Supreme Court directive in May 2026 to operationalise the board. The court noted that while the statutory provision and rules were notified in September 2021, the board had not been formed.

The idea of a dedicated road safety regulator dates back to the Sundar Committee's 2007 report, which proposed a board with powers to prescribe standards, monitor compliance, conduct safety audits, and coordinate across agencies. However, when the National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board Bill was introduced in 2010, it was largely limited to highways and mechanically propelled vehicles.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, in its July 2010 report, observed that many proposed functions were already being carried out by existing institutions. It concluded that the Bill created 'yet another institution' without adequately empowering it to coordinate with existing agencies.

Shubham Kumar, lead for policy advocacy at Crashfree India, said, 'The board is under mandatory duty to advise, while authorities receiving that advice remain under no equally clear duty to respond.' He added that the board falls short of the regulator envisaged by earlier expert committees.

However, not all experts agree that a more powerful regulator is the solution. Swapnil Tripathi, lead of Charkha at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, said the advisory structure aligns with India's constitutional scheme, where legislative competence over road safety is shared between the Union and state governments. Granting the board powers over state governments could create federal tensions and lead to jurisdiction disputes, he argued.

The board's creation marks an important milestone, but the debate over its powers reflects the broader challenge of tackling road safety in a federal system. With over 1.77 lakh deaths annually, the need for effective action remains urgent.