[libranof1987]

Considering how CVs are maintained in India, I think this is a really good move.

However, I would like to see this being implemented. It is not a very populist move so execution isn't going to be a cakewalk. A bulk of our trucks, buses and even auto-rickshaws seem around 15-20 years and are not only poorly maintained (in terms of mechanical conditions and emissions) but also lack safety tech.

2020 isn't that far so there's barely any time for truck corporations and state transport corporations to look at acquiring new buses.

The government has decided to cap the life of commercial vehicles to 20 years beginning 2020. This means vehicles such as taxis, three-wheelers, trucks and buses that were registered before 2000 cannot ply on road from April 1, 2020 and subsequently any commercial vehicle reaching the 20 year age limit will be automatically de-registered.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/63337343.cms

[aravind.anand]

Commercial vehicles owing to their usage pattern, and lack of maintenance and especially due to over-loading have always been one of the largest contributors to vehicular pollution. And to make things worse, they ply on our roads for far more time than our passenger vehicles do. I am tired of being irritated by extremely polluting 2-stroke auto rickshaws, black smoke spewing Piaggios, trucks and pre-historic lorries on our already suffocating & polluted roads

While I still have my reservations on how the execution of this would be handled, I gladly welcome this move

[CARDEEP]

20 years for commercial vehicles (majority of which run on Diesel~Dirty fuel) & 10 year for private vehicles (Diesel; 15 years for Petrol/other fuel vehicles)... why this injustice to private owners?

Classic case of bureaucracy at work

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

why this injustice to private owners?

Classic case of bureaucracy at work

Has this been implemented, even in Delhi ? I am sure that will be increased if CVs are given the leeway.

[arunrajk81]

A welcome move considering air pollution level affecting health in Cities. On the other side, being an auto enthusiast , feeling sad knowing that the classic trucks like 1210D, 1210SEs, Merc 312, Nissan one tonner etc have to be scrapped.

[bugatti]

The age limit to scrap commercial vehicles should have been 15 years but that would be politically unfeasible.

5. What action is India taking?
The capital uses temporarily measures such as restricting traffic on alternate days or attempting to prevent the burning of waste. The federal government has accelerated the timeline for stricter emission rules; oil refiners plan a 288 billion-rupee ($4.4-billion) outlay on upgrades to comply with a local equivalent of European emission standards by April 2020. The Supreme Court last year stopped the registration of larger diesel vehicles in the city.

6. Is it just New Delhi?
Hardly. India accounted for 14 of the 30 worst-polluted cities in the world, according to the WHO. The Indian cities of Gwalior and Allahabad ranked second and third (behind Iran’s Zabol), with New Delhi the 11th worst -- missing out on the title of the most polluted capital city on Earth to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-quicktake-q-a

Had this article saved from a while back and I do believe some experts can offer their take on this.


So far, the perception has been that in many cities, automobiles are the biggest villains in dirtying the atmosphere. Yet, questions remain: do they pollute because they aren’t maintained well? Or do they use polluting technologies? Or is it that the fuel that goes into them is of the worst quality? Or is it all of the above?

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/GB8...-counting.html

[Cooltronics]

It is really a welcome move from the Government considering how the commercial vehicles are maintained and abused.

They should also have similar rule with reduced life span for public vehicles. I see a lot of Volvo B7R and non-AC Ashok Leyland buses in the city which are past their prime and end of life long back.

Well, as a stock enthusiast, it is also a bigger and better reason to buy some commercial vehicle stocks

[GTO]

ICRA doesn't think it's going to make much of a difference to new CV sales:

Recent changes in proposed scrappage policy to have limited impact on CV sales: ICRA

The much-awaited vehicle scrappage policy recently received in-principle approval from the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) and is awaiting approval from the GST council as per media releases. Under the proposed policy - vehicles older than 20 years (as compared to 15 years earlier) would be eligible for scrappage and the policy will be implemented from April 2020, which coincides with the implementation of BS-VI emission norms. The incentive will be a combination of lower GST rate (i.e. 18% compared to 28%) and discounts offered by OEMs. In ICRA’s view, the recent changes in the proposed policy will significantly reduce the potential population of vehicles eligible for scrappage program and will have limited impact of new CV demand in the near-term.

As per Shamsher Dewan, Vice President and Sector Head, ICRA “The proposed policy will limit the potential for new CV sales as population of vehicles older than 20 years will be limited and is estimated to be only 150,000-200,000 units. In addition, most of these vehicles are used in rural areas and smaller towns by small fleet operators who operate used vehicles and have limited financial resources to purchase new vehicles. Moreover, around 70,000-100,000 vehicles are scrapped on an annual basis. As a result, the potential impact of the proposed policy on CV sales will be limited”.

In May 2016, the MoRTH had released a Concept Note on Voluntary Vehicle Modernization Program (V-VMP) which aimed at promoting replacement of old vehicles through an incentive program. As per the draft paper, the scheme was proposed to be applicable for vehicles bought before April 2005 (i.e. older than 11 years) and was expected to cover all segments including CVs. In the draft scheme, scrap value of old vehicle was proposed to be given as payback to owners in form a certificate, which was expected to be redeemable against the purchase of a new vehicle.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by bugatti

6. Is it just New Delhi?
Hardly. India accounted for 14 of the 30 worst-polluted cities in the world, according to the WHO. The Indian cities of Gwalior and Allahabad ranked second and third (behind Iran’s Zabol), with New Delhi the 11th worst -- missing out on the title of the most polluted capital city on Earth to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.[/i]

This is the direct consequence of industrialization+increased power generation from fossil fuels+ automobile ownership growth + immature legislative and institutional framework to prevent or control pollution. Our cities are facing exactly what the 7 most polluted cities of 1960 were facing. Those cities were Chicago, London, Los Angles, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Tokyo. After the killer smogs of the 1950s and 1960s the western countries and Japan got their act together. Hopefully we will get our act together too though right now there doesn't seem to be a coherent umbrella policy and just odd ball directives and a NGT that is yet to grow up. All this will take time. I suspect we will continue to dominate the list for some years.* While we should not take solace from this but the internet press gives the impression that the West was always as clean as it is today which is far from the fact. The London smog of 1952 killed 12,000 odd Londoners over a 5 day period and it was but one of many.

*I went through this list by the WHO. For India they have picked some towns that are so small as to almost be what in north India is a kasba and put that on a global list of cities that are all otherwise 2 million + in population. No doubt that kasba with brick kilns and wheat threshing is highly polluted but is that the way to draw up a balanced and objective list of cities at a global level. For India the WHO list includes Mandi Gobindgarh with a population of 55,000 odd; Ludhiana and its (almost) suburb Khanna have been counted as 2; as have Firozabad and Agra with the former almost an extension of the latter.

Don't get me wrong. The WHO's counting methods do not diminish the fact that we are world champions in this sordid arena. Air and water pollution are two of our big challenges and at least they get visibility. Unlike T.B. which afflicts 2.2 million Indians and gets no press time.

[anjan_c2007]

We will be obliterating a part of our rich automobile history by such a hare brained notification. I have mailed a letter to the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport, New Delhi, this evening . But we expect very less response as the notification has already moved through the initial stages. My letter is self - explanatory :-

To
Shri Abhay Damle
Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Govt of India,
New Delhi
Subject:- Scrapping of 20 plus year old commercial motor vehicles


Sir,

The news report regarding compulsory scrapping of commercial motor vehicles compulsorily wef 2020, was in the media last week. Such a move being initiated by your Ministry, will, I am not sure reduce air pollution to what levels, if we are to go by the recent smog effect in New Delhi and the NCR during Dec 2017 and Jan - Feb 2018 ? This was despite scrapping or de-registering all 10 plus year old diesel and 15 plus year old petrol four wheeled vehicles, in private ownership as per the NGT's orders.
I would suggest you to kindly consider the following suggestions:-

(1) That there are hundreds of old taxis that ply in Maharashtra (Mumbai (the last of the few Premier Padmini taxis are under the guillotine now) , Pune, Nagpur included) ,Karnataka (especially Mysore), Telangana (especially Hyderabad ), West Bengal (Kolkata) and in many other cities, towns and villages. The Ambassador Mark II/ Mark 3 taxis of Mysore need a special mention. These have not been involved in any major road accidents (safety issues) of late and regarding pollution and emissions, the mandatory PUC checks need to be beefed up. If these comply with the extant statutory motor vehicle fitness norms, there is no reason why these should be scrapped. It is requested that older commercial vehicles (taxis) older than 40 years be please exempted for such scrapping, as otherwise it would obliterate a part of the rich Indian automobile history.

(2) Similarly, there are many old Bedford, Dodge, Fargo and Tata Mercedes Benz trucks/ buses that still ply in many places. Scrapping them would again obliterate a part of the rich Indian automobile history. If these comply with the extant statutory norms, there is no reason why these should be compulsorily scrapped. It is requested that older commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) older than 40 years be please exempted for such scrapping, as it would obliterate a part of the rich Indian automobile history.

(3) The older 40 plus year old, exempted commercial vehicles, may please be subjected to stringent fitness tests to ensure that they do not pose any danger to the public at large. There are almost no such incidents of older commercial vehicles involved in dangerous accidents.
It is hoped that you will please keep the interest of automobile historians and future generations in mind when you implement such laws. If all older commercial vehicles are scrapped, we may obliterate a part of automobile history from our country.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Dr Anjan Kr Chatterjee
Secretary, Cent Ind Vintage Automotive Association (CIVAA), Nagpur

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

We will be obliterating a part of our rich automobile history by such a hare brained notification. I have mailed a letter to the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport, New Delhi, this evening . But we expect very less response as the notification has already moved through the initial stages. My letter is self - explanatory :-

I had also moved the same application to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to reconsider the ban on very old commercial vehicles and consider relaxation for such motor vehicles that are more than 40 years old. I have received a response today to this effect from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) where this application from the PMO was referred to for suitable action. The text of the reply from the MoRTH is quoted here

Registration Number
PMOPG/E/2018/0138879
Name Of Complainant :Cent Ind Vintage Automotive Association Secretary
Date of Receipt : 28 Mar 2018
Received by : Prime Ministers Office
Forwarded to : RT Wing MVL Section
Officer name : Shri Priyank Bharti
Officer Designation : Director
Contact Address:
Address : 1, Parliament Street, Transport Bhawan,
New Delhi110001
Contact Number : 011- 23314316
dirmvl-morth@gov.in
Date of Action
16 May 2018
Details:

Dear Dr Chatterjee We thank you for your valuable thinking and suggestions and highlighting them to us. Your suggestions have been noted. We will examine them in detail in the light of the Act / Rules and the Government instructions for finding ways for their effective and practical implementation. For any further clarifications you may contact the Director (MVL), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, at 011-23314316 or email at dirmvl-morth@gov.in Thank you Jai Hind

[TusharK]

According to a media report, the lifetime of commercial vehicles (CV) could be fixed at 20 years. The new scrappage policy is likely to be sent for cabinet approval soon. Once it is cleared by the cabinet, it will be sent to the GST Council. It has been reported that the new policy could come into force from 2020.



The government is also planning to introduce certain incentives for people who will scrap their vehicles. These include concessions on GST at the time of purchasing new vehicles, discounts from vehicle manufacturers and a certain value for the old vehicle. Combined, the incentives are likely to reduce the cost of the vehicle by an average of 15%. Besides, CVs registered before the year 2000 could be made eligible for the incentives. Currently, there are 7,00,000 pre-2000 registered CV plying on Indian roads.

The steel ministry will be responsible for setting up recycling centres. Those opting for the scrappage scheme will have to deposit the vehicle documents at the recycling centre. Once verified, the owner will receive a certificate and the price for the scrap. The owner will have to present the certificate to the dealer while purchasing the new vehicle to avail of the incentives.

Source: Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[anandpadhye]

Isn't this something Gadkari announces every month? I have been hearing this since 2014 I think. What's the delta in today's announcement vs previous one?

[rish_arora]

A good Scrapping Policy is the need of the hour as air pollution condition in India is horrendous to say the least.

But why limit the policy to only CVs?? It should be extended to Private Vehicles as well (say 25 years for diesel and 30 years for petrol). With BS-VI coming into force in 2020 and India's target of getting all electric vehicles, we will have only BS-VI vehicles running by 2050 and all electric cars by 2060 (Being optimistic about the electric car revolution ).