Soon crackdown on over 15-yr-old petrol vehicles in Delhi

Over 30 lakh invalid petrol vehicles in capital

More than 100,000 diesel vehicles already de-registered

New Delhi, Feb. 1 (Delhi Crown): After the crackdown on the diesel vehicles over 10 years, the Delhi Transport Department is soon going to check those plying more than 15-years-old petrol vehicles, said a senior official.

There are said to be more than 30 lakh petrol vehicles in Delhi which are over 15 years old.

If an official at Delhi Transport Department is to be believed, first they would de-register petrol vehicles that are 20 years and older, and subsequently they would go year-on-year for vehicles between 15-20 years.

Over the past couple of months (i.e. till Jan. 31) the Delhi Transport Department de-registered over 100,000 (101,639 to be precise) diesel vehicles that were over 10 years old.

As per the rules laid down by the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court, any registered diesel vehicle more than 10 years old, and petrol vehicle over 15 years old cannot operate in the national capital region (NCR), which includes areas like Gurugram, Noida, Sonipat situated in Delhi’s neighbouring states Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

According to an analysis by the Delhi Transport Department, the city has 1.34 crore registered vehicles, but 56 lakhs (or 42%) of them are “invalid” and not fit to ply on roads.

The analysis was carried out by the department after it de-registered 101,639 diesel vehicles that are between 10 and 15 years old. Such vehicles are called “End of Life” vehicles and driving them in Delhi/NCR has been declared “illegal”.

Such vehicles cannot even be parked in public spaces.

Delhi Transport Commissioner Ashish Kundra said that his department had de-registered almost all the “invalid” (or, End of Life) diesel vehicles, and that now it was the turn to catch hold of those who play “invalid” petrol vehicles in Delhi.

Kundra was quoted as saying – “We are legally bound to de-register all end-of-life vehicles and so, we can say that by January 31, we have deregistered all the diesel vehicles that were between 10 and 15 years old. It was an important move in combating air pollution in Delhi. However, we hope the same rule is actively followed in the NCR cities by their respective state governments as the court orders were meant for the whole of Delhi-NCR.”

Delhi had 1,34,02,875 registered vehicles as on January 31, of which 77,71,075 (57%) have been categorised as “Active” vehicles. This means these vehicles have a valid registration, have not yet hit the “End of Life” age, and are fit to ply on city roads.

The remaining 56,31,800 (42%) vehicles are either those without a valid registration or have been deemed invalid due to their age, according to the transport department analysis.

The Delhi Government has given three options to owners of old petrol vehicles — get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Delhi Transport Department and sell the vehicle any other state, OR retrofit it with approved electric kits, OR simply scrap it.

The NOCs thus obtained can be used in some states to get the vehicle registered there. “It is illegal to drive any such vehicle without re-registration in that state,” a senior transport official reportedly said.

States where such vehicles are allowed to be sold include Rajasthan, which allows it in all its districts; Bihar (18 districts); Maharashtra (26 districts); Uttar Pradesh (33); West Bengal (all districts but only BS-IV vehicles) and Meghalaya (all districts).