DVSA lets approved LED retrofit bulbs pass the MoT from 14 October 2026, H4 classics still wait

Britain's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has changed one of the small rules that decides whether an older car passes its annual test. In a bulletin dated 8 October 2026, the DVSA told testers that from 14 October 2026 they can pass ECE approved LED replacement bulbs fitted inside a car's original halogen headlamp units. The change sits in section 4.14 of the MoT testing manual and applies to classes 3, 4, 5 and 7, which covers tricycles, cars and vans.

Until now the conversion was an automatic rejection, because a tester had no way to verify that a retrofit bulb was approved. Octane reports that the approval in question is UNECE Regulation 37, the international standard for replacement light sources, and that the change followed talks between the lighting maker OSRAM, the Department for Transport and the DVSA.

The sticker is the whole rule

The DVSA bulletin is clear that the pass depends on paperwork stuck to the car. The bulb maker has to supply a secure approval sticker inside the product packaging at the point of sale. That sticker must then be permanently applied to the vehicle, such as inside the engine bay, and be readily visible to the tester. Designs vary between manufacturers, but the sticker has to carry the required references. Testers are told to pass the conversion when that sticker is present and clearly visible, instead of rejecting it as before.

The practical reach is narrow for now. Octane says OSRAM's H11 headlamp bulbs and C5W auxiliary bulbs are the only types currently covered, with more expected to gain approval over the next 2 to 3 years. Owners of older classics running H4 units, which is most of the 1960s to 1980s world, have to wait. The same report notes that cars first registered before 1 April 1986 were never caught by the old LED ban anyway, and that vehicles more than 40 years old can be exempt from the MoT as vehicles of historic interest, so the change mainly helps modern classics that still have to be tested.

Why this does not travel to India

India has no annual roadworthiness test for private cars of this kind, and no equivalent approval sticker route for retrofit bulbs, so a British pass sticker means nothing at an Indian RTO.

For anything registered in the vintage series, originality is the point. Autocar India's explainer on vintage registration opening in Uttar Pradesh sets out the terms that apply: the vehicle must be at least 50 years old from its first registration and must keep its original chassis, body shell and engine without significant modification, the new registration costs ₹20,000 and renewal ₹5,000, the certificate runs for 10 years with renewals every 5 years, the plate reads in the UP VA YY xxxx format, and the registration certificate itself carries the limit that the vehicle is meant for preservation and exhibition rather than daily or commercial use. Applications go to the RTO or ARTO, with an inspection to verify originality and photographs on file.

Imports follow the same logic. DGFT notification 58/2024-25 dated 7 February 2025 replaced the old pre-1950 cut-off and tied the import definition of a vintage motor vehicle to rule 81A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, while keeping the condition that any imported vehicle used on public roads must comply with the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Chapter IIIA. In other words, a lighting fix that is legal in Britain still has to answer to the originality test here.

Sources