Delhi Government has ceased the implementation of its policy on sale of fuel To end of life vehicles amid the rising uproar waged by the citizens against the mandate. Earlier, the government had issued a new regime where fuel sales would have been banned to all diesel vehicles over 10 years old, and Petrol vehicles over 15 years old from July 1, 2025. The new change was aimed to curb the heightened pollution in Delhi. As per reports traffic police personnel had impounded close to 80 vehicles on the first day of the new regime.
Amid the uproar that Delhi residents waged against the policy, Delhi’s Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa wrote to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to put its directives on hold. The extensive public outcry over the new laws that forced many well kept vehicles off the road has since persuaded the government to stop and rethink the said changes for a more comprehensive approach towards heightened pollution redressal.
The Environment Minister further reiterated that a system to seize poorly maintained vehicles is being worked out, as the previous mandate could have affected the users who took good care of their vehicles unnecessarily. The prime factor of importance that the previous rule had overlooked was the health of the vehicle, it rather fixated on the age which in certain cases could be a poor indicator of the overall health of the vehicle.
The Latest Order Could Have Affected over 62 lakh Vehicles
As per a report published by Hindustan Times, it has been established that the said rule change could have affected close to 62 lakh vehicles including cars, two wheelers, trucks and Vintage Vehicles. The new system would have recognized such vehicles, with the help of cameras connected to a central database that would cross verify number plates. This automatic system would have actively reported to the fuel pump operator about any derelict vehicle and the attendant could have denied fuel sale to the car owner.
As per the latest statement from the Delhi Government it has been established that the Automatic Number plate recognition camera usage was not a robust system to identify the HSRP number plates that have been mandated on all cars in Delhi NCR ever since 2019. Beyond that the government is planning a more stringent pollution under control regimen to ensure that there exists a stricter rule for all vehicles. To further ensure that the owners of ELV vehicles are not caught off guard with an old vehicle at the time of being impounded the owners would be sent a cautionary message three months ahead of the panned ELV phase out.
