Some are reluctant to pay the bribe. Someone I know just bought a cheap studds helmet. Even though it's made up of plastic instead metal (like ours) it has ISI mark.

Just a small suggestion...
If you guys are looking for helmets in the 2-5k range with ISI mark, then you can try LS2 or other stuff imported by Vega... they have ISI mark and also ECE 22-05 certification.

Err.. didn't get the metal part. As in, which part of our helmet are you referring to be made out of metal?

By the way, I had a hard time at office, beginning this month. They simply won't allow me to take my bike inside the premises wearing my LS2/Sparx. Somehow convinced the admin that these are of superior quality than ISI and from this week I'm able to park my bike in the company's parking area.

What?? Which office is this in Calcutta? Never heard of such an incident ever. Seems bizzare.

I guess its very easy.See every Testing Standard has a document on how they test,what they test and what minimum results they expect.
for eg.like i mentioned before DOT or ECE uses a metal pointed object to test the visors strength against penetration but ISI uses a ball point end!So its obvious that a DOT/ECE approved helmet can pass ISI tests with flying colors!

Same with every other parts of the helmet DOT/ECE tests the shell against strong metal with a dummy head but im pretty sure all ISI does is drop the helmet on the floor and look for cracks!

^^ Not sure if they even do that I broke a friend's Aaron Hybrid and Vega Motocross helmet with my bare hands and I am no Bruce Lee or Rambo. I shiver at the thought of ever crashing in such helmets.

TCS Office at Victoria Park, Sec V.

I agree. Most Aaron helmets are really flimsy. Also, you should see the helmet they gave me with my bike. I've put it in my store room lest anyone uses it and then curse me.

If that helmet is really that bad, crush it and throw it away. It's not worth risking yourself. In a pinch, if you had that thing lying around, you might be tempted to use it.

Also, apropos the thread in general, I happen to have some political connections, so I'll put a bug in the ear of my connection about high-end imports to see if there's something that can be done. The risk is that, while counterfeiting an ISI sticker can be detected due to the license number thing, counterfeiting a DOT or Snell (or ECE or other foreign safety standard) sticker would be easier, and then how does the constable decide what to do? They're not going to immediately know what is and isn't a real DOT or Snell sticker. It's one thing to say the expensive imports should be allowed, and another to find a way to do it that can't be taken advantage of by unscrupulous fake helmet dealers.

It might be better to encourage the police to go after those who sell the illegal helmets, rather than target bikers immediately. First get rid of the sellers, then start warning the bikers that they need real equipment. Also, rather than make it the ISI sticker specifically, find some other way to detect crappy helmets. Doing the detection based on a single characteristic is short-sighted. The US tried to regulate so-called "assault rifles" based on superficial characteristics some years ago, and the manufacturers simply designed around the characteristics and went on selling. If the ISI sticker is the sticking point, sellers of fake helmets will simply start putting fake ISI stickers on. Either the cops would have to stop every biker and inspect their helmet to tell if the sticker is fake or not, or they will stop checking stickers.

Additionally, if the government is so hot about this, they need to run a publicity campaign on wearing helmets. As long as the public has the attitude that the helmet is something to carry along just to get past the occasional traffic checkpoint, there will always be a market for "in-name-only" helmets. No one wants to drop even Rs.6000-7000 on a real helmet (much less 30,000 or more) if they never wear it. If they wear one constantly, and understand what kind of protection a good helmet provides, they'll spend the money, and the "need" for fake helmets will disappear.

They are not that bad. They are good enough for crashing a splendor at 60km/hr. But they wont save much in case someone crashes a r15 or 220 at 140km/hr .

I have one DOT & ECE certified helmet & on other Vega Helmet I've glued an XBHP's sticker over ISI certification & m using it from more then a year, now i guess i would have to peel that sticker & will use DOT/ECE certified helmet a lot lesser

Edit : i have posted these below questions on DTP Facebook page as well..hope to get answers on it soon..you guys too can comment on it & add more questions to it..

"Sir,
I would like to ask if there is any such rule of wearing only ISI branded Helmet is going to be implement in Delhi.If yes then what will happen to we riders when we will use our Helmets which has DOT/ECE/SNELL certifications on it, which are Internationally acclaimed, but will be missing an ISI certification? we will have to pay fine on that? Is there any other criteria on which the safety measurements of a Helmet will be taken or an ISI mark will be the only parameter? Its a strange situation for our community of bikers who never compromise on their safety.
with regard,
waiting for your reply on this matter."

@ The mountain:
I agree with most of your points. Though the dilemma for some like me is that, I am not confident with ISI standards. So its not about the genuineness of the ISI helmet (see your quote below), but rather the structural integrity of the helmet which I feel genuine imported helmets provides better protection. After all the sticker is not going to protect me in case of accident.

So far it seems to be a choice between safety and fine .

don't mock our country's ISI standards, its better to have something rather than nothing.

only thing is these need to be revised timely.

It is not so easy. First of all, as a standard procedure DOT, SNELL and ECE (for that matter even ISI and other testing bodies) all carry out independent testing periodically by picking up samples of helmets from the market to check them for compliance (not asking the helmet manufacture to provide them or giving any intimation to them about the testing). Any helmets that fails are immediately brought to the manufacturers notice and are listed as helmets that have failed testing on their respective website. Also all these testing bodies come out with a annual report on which helmets fared how well. It make for some very interesting reading.

And yes many helmets have over the years failed these independent test after having achieved certification.

Secondly, the question of how do you know if a helmet is genuinely certified by any of these standards body? All you need to do is go to the respective standards body's website and the list of helmets that have passed the tests and approved is provided there. It just a matter of some homework to be done before you select your helmet (which unfortunately many don't do).

Also would like to point out that its individual helmets that are certified and not the manufacturer as a whole by these standards bodies.

The bottom line is legislation or no legislation, if you value safety, then be prepared to do some homework on the equipment you need to ensure your safety and wellbeing.

+1
And stop assuming that the popular jazzy looking helmets like the cross, Ls2 etc have valid DOT certificates.

Yes, I'm sensible enough not to use it. Thanks for the concern.

Just one clarification on this: While IS:4151 is a sticker on the helmet, DOT is written beneath the outer lamination and thus, cannot be tampered.

I have been told that while Snell does random testing as Abhimanyu pointed out, DOT doesn't do that. Someone please comment on this.