NEW DELHI: With the much-awaited national vehicle scrappage policy now in place, the Delhi government wants the criteria for scrapping or marking a vehicle ‘end of life’ in the capital to be fitness, and not age, as in the rest of the country.
The state government is going to approach Supreme Court with a request to review its 2018 order prohibiting the plying of 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR, in case the national policy doesn’t have a separate provision for the capital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the national vehicle scrappage policy on Friday, with an aim of phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles. However, unlike Delhi-NCR, where driving a 15-year-old petrol or 10-year-old diesel-run car can invite penal action, with a fine of up to Rs. 10,000 or seizure and scrapping of the vehicle, the national policy requires 20-year-old personal vehicles and 15-year-old commercial vehicles to be scrapped, and that too only if the vehicle fails to pass fitness tests.
“If the emphasis of the national vehicle scrappage policy is on fitness, why should Delhiites suffer?” Delhi’s transport minister Kailash Gahlot told TOI. “Once the policy is notified, we will study it and see whether it deals with the status of Delhi and the court order or not. If we find that it doesn’t deal with it, we obviously have the liberty to approach the court and request a review of the order,” he said.
Supreme Court had on October 29, 2018, prohibited the plying of 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles in NCR and directed the transport department to announce that such vehicles will be impounded if found plying. Describing the pollution situation in Delhi-NCR as ‘very critical’, the apex court had also said that a list of such vehicles should be published on the website of the transport department.
The transport department had issued ‘guidelines for scrapping of motor vehicles in Delhi’ in 2018 and had also authorised the first scrapper. Although the number of authorised scrappers is now five, the number of old vehicles scrapped till date is only around 3,000.
While the national policy allows vehicles that have proper fitness to ply even if these are older, it will not be possible to implement this policy in Delhi because of the apex court’s order. Delhi government officials said they have been getting a lot of queries on the new policy from owners of vehicles that are nearing end of their life. They are being asked what it means for those whose vehicles are in a well-maintained and roadworthy condition. The government wants to apprise the court of the situation and request it for a review of its order.
Although the Centre’s new policy allows re-registration of an old vehicle if it clears fitness tests, the cost of getting a fitness certificate for a 20-year-old vehicle is expected to be high.
Go to Source