Goa weighs curbs on Thar rental licences after spate of crashes

The Goa government is considering restricting fresh licences for car rental operators seeking to use the Mahindra Thar, following a series of accidents involving the sports utility vehicle in the coastal state.

Transport minister Mauvin Godinho told The Navhind Times newspaper in Goa that the proposal would be placed before the State Transport Authority (STA), which will take a final decision on whether additional permissions for the vehicle should be curtailed in the self-drive rental segment.

“The Thar has been involved in many accidents, and we have received requests from the public to act,” Godinho said, adding that the issue would be taken up at the next STA meeting.

Moneycontrol reported that the Mahindra Thar is one of the most popular vehicles among domestic and foreign tourists in Goa and is widely used by self-drive rental operators. Agencies typically charge between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,000 a day for the five-seater SUV.

Godinho said the government was concerned about the pattern of driving associated with the vehicle and suggested that its performance characteristics, combined with reckless driving, had contributed to repeated accidents. He stopped short of suggesting a broader ban but said the government would recommend that no fresh permissions be granted for the model if the transport authority agreed.

The move follows several recent crashes involving the Thar in Goa. In June, one such SUV reportedly lost control in Verna and collided first with a Hyundai Creta and then a scooter, injuring the two-wheeler rider. In another accident the same month in Morjim, a Thar was involved in a multi-vehicle crash in which a woman riding a scooter was killed.

The vehicle has also figured in wider debates around reckless driving and road safety beyond Goa. In November last year, Haryana’s then director general of police O.P. Singh drew criticism after remarking that Thar owners often performed dangerous stunts on public roads. His comments came shortly after a speeding Thar allegedly hit two sisters near Chandigarh, killing one and critically injuring the other before fleeing.

Such incidents have repeatedly drawn attention to overspeeding, road rage and social-media-driven driving behaviour, with the Thar often becoming a visible symbol in the discussion. However, road-safety experts and automotive analysts have cautioned against singling out any one vehicle model without evidence.

National Crime Records Bureau data for 2023 recorded 4.64 lakh road accidents and 1.74 lakh fatalities across India, with overspeeding remaining the leading cause of crashes. But accident statistics are not classified by vehicle model, making it impossible to establish any data-backed link between the Mahindra Thar and a higher accident risk than other vehicles.

Experts say road safety outcomes are shaped far more by driver behaviour, speed, alcohol use, road conditions and enforcement than by the make of the vehicle itself.

The controversy comes even as the Thar remains one of Mahindra & Mahindra’s strongest performers in the passenger vehicle market. The Thar and Thar Roxx together account for more than 10,000 domestic sales each month and contribute over one-fifth of the company’s monthly passenger vehicle volumes.

The Thar range crossed the three-lakh sales mark within five years of its 2020 relaunch, buoyed by strong demand from younger buyers and customers seeking a lifestyle-oriented off-road SUV.