Considering the rate of continuing urbanisation and with it the proliferation of escalators and travolators, it is imperative that the law also includes these other two building transportation systems. This is even more important because the larger public is exposed to these travel mechanisms. Much time has passed since the law has been enacted over 60 years ago. The new law will now consider technological advancements, new products, machinery, mechanisms, tighter safety protocols, etc.
Under the current situation, while there are standards issued by the Bureau of India Standards, these serve as guidelines and are only mandatory if enacted by the state legislation. Examples of such states are – Kerala, Karnataka, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. In addition, six other states have enacted their own Lift Act and Rules, but these are mandatory in those states only. When the law is enacted in Maharashtra, the standards will cover a large section of the elevator, escalator and travolator market, which is a welcome move.
Once the law is enacted by the Maharashtra Government, the standards will be governed by the IS code, the benefits of which will be two-fold: a) IS code are constantly updated, which means all units will have to be up to date constantly on new and current standards. b) Secondly the IS code is aligned to the ISO code, which are the governing international code body. This means that all units will eventually be at par with international quality and safety mechanisms. This will boost the safety of the riding public and mechanics as well. Otis products meet or exceed code standards around the world.
Otis has for long, been an advocate of tightening regulations to include safety requirements in all states and championing the cause of having a unified code standard across all states. Otis India therefore applauds this move.
