Question 1

1. What is AIS 156 and which vehicles does it apply to?

Accepted Answer

AIS 156 is the Indian Automotive Industry Standard that prescribes battery safety requirements for L-category electric vehicles — motor vehicles with fewer than four wheels, plus quadricycles. In fleet terms that means e-rickshaws, e-autos and electric cargo three-wheelers. It is notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, with ARAI acting as secretariat to the Automotive Industry Standards Committee.

Question 2

2. Is AIS 156 the same as AIS 038 (Rev 2)?

Accepted Answer

No. AIS 038 (Rev 2) is the parallel standard for M and N category vehicles — four wheels and above, carrying passengers or goods. Electric vans, trucks and buses fall under it, not under AIS 156. Both were amended by the same MoRTH notification, S.O. 4567(E) of 28 September 2022, so the requirements moved together even though the documents are separate.

Question 3

3. Does AIS 156 certification prove the battery in my vehicle is safe?

Accepted Answer

It proves a representative sample of that vehicle or battery type passed the prescribed tests at approval. It is not a condition report for the individual pack delivered to your depot. The mechanism that addresses series production is Conformity of Production, notified through G.S.R. 888(E) on 19 December 2022 — which is why a fleet should ask about both.

Question 4

4. What should a fleet ask for before signing an EV purchase order?

Accepted Answer

Four things: the type approval certificate for the exact variant with its amendment level stated; evidence of the COP arrangement; pack serial numbers mapped to chassis numbers at handover with the supporting cell test reports; and a written description of how the thermal warning behaves and where it annunciates.

Question 5

5. What is the current amendment level of AIS 156?

Accepted Answer

This is genuinely hard to confirm from a government source. The latest amendment described in a PIB release or a parliamentary answer remains the one notified in September 2022, while ARAI’s consolidated document is titled as carrying amendments 1 to 4, the fourth dated December 2023. Rather than rely on any article, require the supplier to state the amendment level on the certificate itself.

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