Scrap old vehicles: Delhi government issues notice to owners

In an effort to implement the vehicle scrappage policy in the National Capital Region, the Delhi government has issued notice directed at all vehicle owners who still ply their old vehicles in the city. The transport department of the Delhi government has advised people to keep their 15-year-old petrol vehicles and 10-year-old diesel vehicles off the road. It has also advised people to get such vehicle scrapped at authorised centres.

On Monday, the transport department of Delhi issued a notice that read, "Owners of over 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles are advised not to ply these vehicles on the roads in Delhi/NCR and further advised to get such end of life vehicles scrapped through authorised scrappers of the transport department."

Citing a Supreme Court order for impounding end-of-life diesel and petrol vehicles, the notice also clarified that despite registration certificates of all types of vehicles have validity of 15 years, diesel vehicles that are older than 10 years should be kept off the roads. However, it also said that such vehicles can be registered in other states after obtaining no-objection certificate (NOC) from concerned authorities.

In Delhi, there are around 37 lakh vehicles, including two-wheelers which are considered End-of-Life Vehicles or unfit vehicles, but are still being used. Delhi currently has more than one crore vehicles registered in the state. Delhi often grapples with severe pollution issues and the government has attributed polluting vehicles as one of the key reasons behind it. Delhi was the first state to implement the odd-even policy back in 2016 to help reduce vehicular pollution.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy. The Centre has instructed fitness test for personal vehicles after 20 years and commercial vehicles after 15 years. It also allowed plying of old vehicles if they pass fitness test. The policy also aims to build scrapping infrastructure in the form of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RSVF) and Automated Testing Stations (ATS) in India.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) says around one crore unfit vehicles around the country can be recycled immediately. Mandatory fitness testing for heavy commercial vehicles will come into force from April 1, 2023, and the same will be in place in a phased manner for other categories from June 1, 2024.

Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape.