The Hindu Business Line : `Make compliance of battery handling rules mandatory'

, OFTEN hauled up for non-compliance of battery management and handling rules (BMHR), which makes retrieval of used lead acid batteries mandatory, the organised sector has now turned the heat on importers and the unauthorised lead smelters and assemblers.

In a representation made to the Union Government, the Association of Battery Manufacturers of India (ABMI) has recommended submission of BMHR compliance certificates for past imports mandatory for customs clearance for fresh imports.

"We have suggested compliance of BMHR to be a part of the customs clearance documents as otherwise importers are flooding the market with little responsibility towards the environmental degradation," an ABMI spokesperson said.

According to the association, as per existing rules, importers need to get registered with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and give an undertaking on compliance of handling and maintenance rules to the customs authorities for importing battery.

In practice, however, the rules are not followed by importers and pollution control boards find it tough to trace them.

With imports accounting for 12-15 per cent of the automotive battery market, the alleged non-compliance of BMHR not only creates environmental hazards but also puts domestic producers at a cost disadvantage.

Unlike in developed countries such as Germany, where customers pay for safe disposal of the used battery while making any replacement, battery manufacturers in India buy back the used lead-acid battery.

Promulgated in May 2001, the handling rules made 50 per cent retrieval of used batteries mandatory in the first year.

While the prescribed retrieval ratio has been put at 90 per cent in three years, the organised sector could hardly attain the 20 per cent mark. In fact, in a recent incident, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had threatened withdrawal of the pollution control certificate to a battery manufacturing unit in the State for the company's alleged non-compliance of BMHR.

Association sources blamed proliferation of unauthorised smelters and assemblers as well as lack of monitoring of dealers by state pollution control boards as the prime reason behind the poor response to the buy back schemes offered by the organised sector.

As against Rs 120 offered by the organised sector for every used battery of Maruti-800 to its dealers, the unorganised sector offers as much as Rs 180.

Apart from the cash gain, the unorganised sector does not procure fresh lead and thrive on recycled lead and used plates and separators.

The sector enjoys a 40 per cent cost advantage on the final product as it does not comply with any rules and regulations framed by the authorities.

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