Diesel cars ban in Delhi until 31st March 2016

The green court’s order has already drawn criticism from automakers, with the country’s biggest vehicle manufacturers’ group saying it could derail the industry.

If one goes through the imposed ban, there will not be new registration of Vehicles like Toyota’s Innova, Mitsubishi Pajero, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio, Tata Sumo, Tata Safari until 31st of March 2016.

The courts are pushing the authorities to act over New Delhi’s toxic air, ranked as the worst in the world in a World Health Organisation survey previous year of over 1,600 cities.

“Our order of October 9, 2015 imposing the environment compensation charge (ECC) was in the same spirit meant to act as a restraint against vehicles not bound for Delhi entering Delhi”.

Further, only taxis running on CNG, including that of cab aggregators like Ola and Uber, will be allowed to ply in Delhi and the NCR, for which they have been given time till March 31.

For the duration of the ban though, the company is evaluating various options to work within the framework given by the Supreme Court. It has said this way – “Why should a rich man travel in a diesel vehicle and pollute the environment”.

“People’s life is at stake and you are interested in selling cars”, Chief Justice TS Thakur was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“The pollution issue in Delhi needs to be looked at holistically if the objective of improving the air quality is to be achieved”. The court has also set a deadline of April 1 for the Delhi government and civic bodies to vacuum clean streets, fix pavements, build new ones and stop burning bio-wastes. The odd-even ban is to be implemented from January 01, 2016 and the AAP government has even started bolstering the public transportation system. “It is noteworthy that diesel vehicles of 2,000 cc and above and SUVs are generally used by more affluent sections of our society and because of the higher engine capacity, are more prone to cause higher levels of pollution”. The Supreme Court said the NCT Government shall install its own CCTV cameras at nine entry points and also organise surprise visits to oversee the collection of ECC and other necessary arrangements. Vehicles bound for Delhi may enter on payment of ECC, it said, asking state governments and Union Territories concerned to “ensure that vehicles bearing registration numbers of the year 2005 or earlier do not enter Delhi” and evolve a system for implementation of its directions. The formula will first be tried till January 15 and will be extended after an assessment.