Should India outlaw hidden car door handles after China’s ban?

China has become the first country in the world to ban hidden car door handles amid safety concerns after a spate of deadly incidents which left people trapped inside their cars.

From January 1, 2027, automakers selling cars in China will need to have a mechanical release on both the inside and the outside of their car doors.

Flush door handles differ from traditional lift and pull handles as they sit seamlessly with the car’s body and can be almost invisible. While they may offer a small aerodynamic benefit, manufacturers mainly use them for their visual appeal.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's new rules require all car doors except the tailgate to provide at least 60 millimetres by 20 mm by 25 mm of hand-operable space, and to include a mechanical release function. About 60 percent of the top 100 selling new energy vehicles in China have hidden door handles, according to state-owned China Daily.

In India, several luxury and mass-market carmakers offer hidden door handles.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and its British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover, offers several cars with pop-out flush handles. Tata’s newly launched Sierra and the Curvv come with hidden door handles.

South Korean carmaker Kia also offers its Seltos and Syros with flush-fitted door handles.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) also gives flush-fitted door handles with cars such as Mahindra XEV 9e, Mahindra BE 6, Mahindra XEV 9S, XUV700, and the recently launched XUV7XO.

“China, the world’s largest car manufacturer, has raised this concern. If they have reached a state that they want to ban flush door handles, that means they are not able to find any workarounds. If they have gone to the extreme step of removing flush handles, India should also reconsider and address the safety concerns around hidden door handles,” says Puneet Gupta, Director, India & ASEAN Automotive Market, S&P Global Mobility.

“Electronically actuated handles may now work during crashes. In high-end cars, battery drainage due to loaded features is higher which could result in battery loss and prevent rescuers from opening doors in case of crashes. In electric vehicles, it is even more dangerous,” Gupta adds.

Gupta, however, believes that India should not ban it blindly but conduct more testing to allay the concerns raised by Chinese regulators. “Aesthetically, they look good. But OEMs must provide safety mechanisms. Indian OEMs should analyse it from an Indian perspective,” said Gupta.

Piyush Tewari, founder & CEO, SaveLIFE Foundation, said vehicle design must prioritise simple, mechanical access over aesthetic or aerodynamic gains. “China’s decision reinforces an important road safety principle: safer roads and vehicles are as much about preventing crashes as they are about ensuring people can be rescued quickly when something goes wrong,” he said.

“In India, where post-crash rescue time is a critical determinant of survival, vehicle design must prioritise simple, mechanical access over aesthetic or aerodynamic gains. As EV adoption grows in India, this is a conversation regulators, manufacturers, and safety experts must urgently have,” Tewari added.