Vehicles older than 15 years to be banned in Delhi by end of 2018

Led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Government of Delhi is looking forward to implement Delhi Scrapping of Vehicles Rules under which Government will scrap all the vehicles older than 15 years by the end of this year. The ‘Delhi Scrapping of Vehicles Rules, 2018’ drafted by the government holds that all the vehicles falling in this category will be impounded and sent for disassembling to scrap dealers for dismantling.

The impounding of vehicles is likely to start early next year. However, the owners of impounded vehicles will be paid a scrapping charge, which is yet to be decided. Official rules concerning this are expected to be implemented by end of 2018.

As per a recent survey, more than 30 lakh vehicles are older than 15 years in the national capital. “There is no rule at present to guide the police or the government as to what is to be done with the vehicles after they are impounded. The new rules will create a mechanism to ensure proper disposal of old vehicles. This is going to be a first-of-its-kind policy in India,” said commissioner (transport) Varsha Joshi.

As a matter of fact, the Delhi Scrapping of Vehicles Rules, 2018 has been drafted for implementing a 2014 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The later stated that the vehicles older than 15 years should not be allowed to ply on Delhi’s roads and should not be parked in public spaces.

“CCTV cameras will be installed at the scrapping yard. The live feed of the scrapping recording be made available to the Operational Control Centre of the Transport Department on a 24×7 basis and backup facilities for three months,” the draft rules state.

“Any junk vehicle found parked in public place shall be impounded and a communication will be sent to the registered owner, who will have to submit an undertaking for scrapping within a period of 15 days,” said KK Dahiya, special commissioner (transport).