Patna, May 14: The transport department has made installation of speed governors mandatory in all commercial vehicles to tame the speed demons on the roads.

According to a notification issued by the department on April 22, the speed governors installed in school buses would restrict their speed to 40kmph and that of dumpers and other vehicles carrying hazardous goods to 60kmph. The speed-limiting devices in other commercial vehicles, including trucks, tractors and buses, would fix their maximum speed at 80kmph.

The price range of each speed-governor ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000.

The notification mandates manufacturers or operators to install speed governors in all new commercial vehicles delivered in Bihar, while the state government would select the agencies for installation of the same in old vehicles.

Transport minister Chandrika Rai told The Telegraph today: "We have issued the notification for mandatory speed governors in all commercial vehicles in Bihar. It has been sent to the Centre and we would soon start the bidding process for selection of agency, which would install the speed governors in old vehicles."

Speed governor is a device, which is used to limit the top speed of a vehicle. For some classes of vehicles and in some jurisdictions, the speed limiters are statutory requirement. For some other vehicles, the manufacturer provides a non-statutory system, which may be fixed or programmable by the driver.

In 2002, the Supreme Court of India had issued a guideline for installation of speed governors in all commercial vehicles. However, very few states, including Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala, have implemented the order till date.

According to a notification issued by the Union transport ministry in April 2015, vehicles such as buses, trucks and mini buses need to install speed governors to limit their speed to 80km per hour, while the speed limiters in school buses and vehicles carrying hazardous goods would set the maximum speed at 60km per hour. Fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles do not need to install such speed limiters, the norms state.

"Though the central government has kept the speed limit of 60kmph for school buses, we have kept it at 40kmph to ensure maximum safety of children travelling in school buses in Bihar," said Rai.

Installation of speed governors would, however, be subject to availability of the equipment. Moreover, only the speed governors approved by Automotive Research Association of India, a research institute of the automotive industry with the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises, can be fitted in vehicles.