The wrath of the residents of Delhi has made the government reconsider the ban on ‘end of life’ vehicles
The Delhi government has revoked its decision to scrap diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol cars older than 15 years for the time being. It announced the ‘end of life’ (EoL) ban on cars a few months ago. However, there was always the argument that the emissions of the vehicles are not necessarily directly correlated with age. If people maintain their cars well, it is possible that even old cars are not emitting pollution beyond the limit. Hence, the regular public was furious about this decision to begin with.
Delhi Government Forced to Put ‘End of Life’ Car Ban on Hold
The EoL policy faced public rage as people were, essentially, forced into buying new cars. This policy affected over 62 lakh vehicles, including cars, two-wheelers, trucks and vintage cars. As a part of this announcement, the fuel stations were ordered to not supply fuel to vehicles which fall under the ‘end of life’ category. To monitor these cars, cameras were installed at 498 fuel stations. These cameras are linked to the central database to verify the number plates, alerting the petrol pump operators to not give fuel to the owner if the car is found to be beyond its age.
Interestingly, the Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told the media that such a fuel ban is difficult to enforce due to technological challenges and complex systems. Furthermore, the Delhi government also mentioned that the Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras didn’t have a “robust system” because they can’t yet identify the HSRP (High Security Registration Plate). These plates became mandatory in India on all cars after April 2019. There are issues like technical glitches, non-working sensors and malfunctioning speakers. Many people took to social media to express their frustration regarding this policy.
My View
I firmly believe that simply slapping a blanket ban on automobiles after a pre-decided age is not the ideal way to filter out pollution-emitting cars. There have to be more intensive inspection methods to ensure that only those vehicles are scrapped which actually violate the permissible pollution levels. This can be ascertained by pollution measurements used to produce the PUC. That will ensure that people who have maintained their cars are not adversely affected by this policy. Let us see how things develop in this regard going forward.
Also Read: Cars to be Scrapped Based on Pollution Levels Not Age – End of 10 Year Diesel Ban?
