Supreme Court lifts ban on registration of vehicles over 2000cc

“The deposit of amount alone shall entitle manufacturers, dealers and purchasers to have the vehicle registered in Delhi”, the court noted in its order.

She said that earlier the amicus curiae in the case had proposed the implementation of at least 20-30% ECC on diesel cars to equalise the fuel taxes for diesel and petrol vehicle users. The added levy will go to the Central Pollution Control Board’s kitty under a separate account in a PSU bank, as ruled by the court.

Registration of new cars will happen only on the production of proof of payment, the court said, while keeping open the question whether cars with lower capacity would attract such a tax. Promoting environment friendly vehicles as well as significantly improving public transport are some of the areas which requires immediate attention.

“SC has established the principle that diesel cars are more polluting. A ban on registration of such vehicles will not, therefore, affect the common man or the average citizen in the city of Delhi”. Maruti Suzuki rose 0.4 percent. As noted by the apex court, a 1% of cess on ex-showroom price will be charged as green cess on all those vehicles. Pawan Goenka, president of M&M, said, “We hope this decision will put all controversy surrounding diesel fuel behind us”.

In December past year, the SC had temporarily banned the sale of large diesel cars with an engine capacity of 2000cc or more to combat the rising pollution levels.

The apex court also directed that vehicle manufactures, dealers and buyers have to deposit one percent environment cess on the purchase. “It’s not as if diesel is the only fuel that was causing pollution”, he said.

Mercedes-Benz India, welcoming the move, said, “We have followed the earlier direction of the Supreme Court and filed an Interim Application seeking relief on the ban on our cars”. It creates a lot of confusion for the market in general.