Are Dash Cams Legal in India? Using Footage for Insurance Claims and Police Complaints

Most people who ask this have already had a scare. A bike clipped the mirror, or someone braked hard in front of them on the expressway and then got out shouting.

The camera is rarely the legal question. 3 things are: where you fit it, how you handle the footage, and who you show it to. And if you remember 1 thing from this page, make it the middle one. The most useful thing you can do with footage after an incident is nothing. Don't trim it. Don't edit it. Copy it and leave the original alone.

Is there any law against dash cams in India?

No. Neither the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 nor the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 has a provision that bans or regulates a dash cam in a private vehicle, as far as we could find in public sources. Dash cams are sold openly online and in car accessory shops.

No rule makes a dash cam compulsory for a private car either. If someone tells you that you can be fined just for having one, ask which section. We looked, and we couldn't find one.

Where to mount it: the windscreen question

There's no rule written specifically for dash cams. The provision that matters is Section 125 of the Motor Vehicles Act. It says a driver must not place anything in a position that hampers their control of the vehicle.

A dash cam stuck low in the middle of the windscreen, or one with a cable hanging across the dashboard, could fall foul of that. The fix is simple:

• Mount the front camera high, behind the rear-view mirror, so it sits in a spot you don't look through anyway.
• Keep it inside the area your wipers clean, so the lens sees clearly in rain.
• Tuck the power cable along the headliner and pillar, away from the airbag and your line of sight.

Our dash cam installation and parking mode guide walks through this step by step.

Is dash cam footage valid evidence in India?

It can be. Since 1 July 2024, electronic evidence is governed by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), which repealed the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Articles that still talk about "Section 65B" are citing the old law.

Section 63 of the BSA decides how electronic records are proven in court. It covers output from any digital source: phones, emails, WhatsApp chats, CCTV and, yes, dash cams. A copy of a record, such as a video clip copied to a pen drive, can be admitted if certain conditions are met. The one that matters to you is in Section 63(4): a certificate has to be submitted with the record. The format is given in the Schedule to the Act and has 2 parts:

• Part A is filled by the party producing the record. It asks for details of the device, such as make, model and serial number, confirms the device was in your lawful control, and gives the hash value of the file, worked out with an algorithm such as SHA-256.
• Part B is filled by an expert, and also states the hash value.

A hash value is a digital fingerprint of a file. Change even 1 frame and the hash changes. That's why we keep going on about the unedited original.

The Supreme Court has backed this requirement. In Pune Bar Association v. Union of India, decided on 22 May 2026, a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant refused to strike down Section 63(4) and its certificate, and called the hash value "synonymous with an electronic fingerprint". It also said Part B doesn't have to come only from a government-notified examiner: a court may accept another expert in computer science and cyber forensics. The Court kept that last point open for a final ruling in a later case.

The BSA also says that where an electronic record is produced from proper custody, it is primary evidence unless disputed. In practice, whether a court needs the certificate, the original card, or both depends on the case. Your lawyer will tell you what to prepare. Your job is to keep everything intact until then.

How to preserve footage after an incident

Dash cams loop-record, so old footage is overwritten when the card fills. A 128GB card on a 2K camera holds roughly 12 to 20 hours of front video, and less with the rear camera running. Act quickly.

1. Lock the clip. On the TWM A3, S2 and R3, the G-sensor locks footage automatically on impact. If there was no impact, save or lock the clip manually.
2. Don't edit the original. No trimming, no filters, no re-saving through a video app. Cut any short clip from a copy.
3. Keep the SD card. Take it out, label it, and use a spare until the matter is settled. TWM dash cams ship without a microSD card, so buy one you trust.
4. Copy the full file. Download the original clip through the TWM - Track What Matters app (Android and iOS) or a card reader, and keep 2 copies.
5. Note the details. Write down the date, time, place, and the make and serial number of your dash cam. The BSA certificate asks for device details.
6. Record a hash if you can. On a Mac, run shasum -a 256 filename in Terminal. On Windows, run certutil -hashfile filename SHA256. Either one prints a 64-character code. Save it with the copies.

Some features make footage more useful as evidence. The A3 has built-in GPS that adds location and route to your drives, which helps show where you were. On every TWM front-and-rear camera the rear records in 1080p alongside the front, so a rear-end collision is on record too. TWM dash cams stamp the date and time onto the footage, so the clip itself shows when it was recorded. Recording while parked, which helps if your car is hit in a car park, needs the camera wired for parking power.

Using dash cam footage for an insurance claim

Insurers don't have to accept dash cam footage, and no rule makes it compulsory. HDFC ERGO says dash cams don't guarantee claim approval, and that edited, tampered or blurry video won't be treated as valid. Treat the footage as support for your claim. The paperwork still has to be there.

The IRDAI motor insurance handbook lists the 5 documents usually needed: a filled claim form, a copy of the RC, the estimate of loss, the repair invoice and payment receipt, and an FIR where required. Read your own policy for the full list.

When you intimate the claim, say you have footage and ask how they want it. Share a copy. Never hand over your only original.

Giving footage to the police

You can hand over a copy when you file a complaint, and the police can also ask for it. Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced Section 91 of the old CrPC, lets a court issue a summons, or the officer in charge of a police station issue a written order, to produce a document or electronic communication, including a device likely to contain digital evidence. It applies to investigations, inquiries and trials.

2 things about Section 94 are worth knowing. It's an order to produce, not a seizure. And you don't have to go to the station yourself: sending the footage or the card counts as complying. The section doesn't override the Bankers' Books Evidence Act or certain BSA provisions, and it doesn't cover post held by the postal authority, but none of that touches dash cam footage.

If you're asked for the card itself, get a written receipt describing it, and keep your own copy with its hash.

Privacy: what you can record and what you shouldn't share

Recording the road from inside your own car is the everyday use of a dash cam, and we found no law against it. The risk is in what you do with the footage afterwards.

• Personal use. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 doesn't apply to personal data processed by an individual for a personal or domestic purpose. A dash cam in your family car generally fits here. A taxi or fleet business may not, so businesses should take advice.
• Cameras and microphones inside the car. Some dash cams record the cabin or the driver, and some record sound. Our R3 has a cabin camera, the A6 has a built-in microphone, and the AI Dash Cam watches the driver. We found no specific law on recording inside a car, but passengers and drivers are more private than a view of the road. If you drive a cab, run a fleet, or often carry people outside the family, tell them what the camera records.
• Posting online. The Supreme Court held privacy to be a fundamental right in the Puttaswamy judgment of 2017. Before you post a clip, blur the faces and number plates of bystanders and other drivers. Naming and shaming online can land you in a defamation or privacy dispute, even when you were in the right.

That last point is the one we'd underline. A clip that would have settled your insurance claim quietly can become a legal problem of its own once it has 40,000 views. Give it to your insurer and the police first. The internet can wait.

GPS trackers follow the same logic: the device is fine; how you use the data counts.

Choosing a camera with evidence in mind

If evidence is why you're buying, look for clear night footage and front and rear coverage before anything else. Our guide to the best dash cam for your car and 2K vs 4K comparison go deeper, or browse all TWM dash cams.

Frequently asked questions