New Delhi, December 10: All new trucks manufactured on or after October 1, 2025, must be equipped with AC cabins for drivers, as the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification for mandating air-conditioned truck cabins. In a gazette notification, the ministry has said, “…the vehicles manufactured on or after October 1, 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 an air-conditioning system shall be as per IS14618:2022, it added. In July, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the draft notification to mandate the installation of air-conditioning systems in the cabins of trucks has been approved. AC Cabins To Be Mandatory for All Trucks From 2025; Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari Approves Proposal.
Recently, the minister said that truck drivers play a key role in the transport sector, one of the most important areas for India, and there is a need to address issues regarding their working conditions and state of mind. Air-conditioned cabins for trucks will soon be made mandatory, Gadkari had said. Rapido Bike Taxi Ban in Delhi: ‘Two-Wheeler Taxis Cannot Run in National Capital for Now’, Says Supreme Court; Stays Delhi High Court Order.
Lamenting that truck drivers have been forced to work in extreme heat conditions, the minister said that he has been pushing for air-conditioned cabins for truck drivers for a long time even as “some people objected to it saying it will increase costs”.
