Delhi govt. reverses fuel sales ban for end-of-life vehicles

Vehicles should be assessed based on their emissions instead of being banned purely based on their age.

The Delhi government has reversed its decision to ban fuel sales to end-of-life vehicles, which include petrol vehicles over 15 years of age and diesel vehicles over 10 years of age, citing technological and operational challenges.

The government has installed Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPR) at most petrol pumps. However, the system is facing several issues related to camera placement and malfunctioning sensors and speakers.

Besides, there is a lack of coordination with databases from other cities of NCR, as the ANPR system is not yet functional in Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.

In his letter to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “There are critical operational and infrastructural challenges that make it unfeasible to implement this order at this juncture.”

“The fuel ban in Delhi alone will not serve its intended purpose unless implemented uniformly across the entire NCR," he added. “We strongly urge the Commission to pause the implementation of Direction No. 89 until the ANPR system is fully integrated across the NCR.”

Sirsa also admitted that vehicles should be assessed based on their emissions instead of being banned purely based on their age. "We are trying to ensure that vehicles are not banned purely based on age, but rather on the pollution they cause," he said.

Source: ET Auto