Government departments will not be able to renew registration of their vehicles older than 15 years from April 1 next year, if a proposal issued by the the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is finalised.
Notification of the draft rules was issued on March 12 by the Ministry, seeking comments, objections and suggestions from stakeholders within thirty days. The certificate of registration shall not be renewed after the laps of 15 years for government vehicles, it said.
Once approved, the rule will be applicable to all government vehicles — central and State governments, Union Territories, PSUs, municipal and autonomous bodies — as per the notification.
“From April 1, 2022, government departments will not be able to renew the certificate of registration of their vehicles, after 15 years. This will apply to all government - central, state, UT, PSUs, municipal bodies & autonomous bodies,” the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways said in a tweet.
The development comes close on the heels of the voluntary vehicle-scrapping policy announced in the Union Budget on February 1 which provides for fitness test after 20 years for personal vehicles while commercial vehicles would require it after the completion of 15 years.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had said one crore vehicles would be scrapped initially, and the policy would lead to new investments of around ₹10,000 crore and create as many as 50,000 jobs.
Such old vehicles are estimated to cause 10-12 times more pollution than the latest vehicles. The government had earlier said it plans to impose green tax on old, polluting vehicles while exempting vehicles like strong hybrids, electric vehicles and those running on alternate fuels like CNG, ethanol and LPG from such taxation. The revenue collected through the green tax would be utilised for tackling pollution.
Under the scheme, transport vehicles older than eight years could be charged green tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at a rate of 10 to 25% of road tax, as per green tax proposal sent to States for consultation after clearance by the Ministry.
