Old car no fuel policy in Delhi to begin soon, fuel stations get cameras to scan vehicles

Aiming to curb air pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government missed the 1 April deadline to equip fuel refilling stations with a system to detect the age of vehicles and was 23 installations away from rolling out the ‘no fuel for overage vehicles’ policy, reported PTI.

Currently, 372 petrol pumps and 105 CNG refilling stations have been fitted with the device and the rest would be brought on board within the next 10 to 15 days, PTI quoted a senior official from the environment department as saying, adding the government expects to implement the system by the end of April.

“We have completed device installation at 477 fuel refilling stations and only 23 are left. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa are closely monitoring the process. A full rollout will happen by the end of this month,” PTI quoted the the environment department official as saying.

Sirsa had previously underlined that the government was trying hard to get the process completed on time, however, added it was better to delay the rollout slightly than to proceed with only partial implementation.

Unveiling of plans:

The Delhi government in March unveiled its plans that fuel pumps in the national capital will not provide petrol and diesel to vehicles older than 15 and 10 years, respectively. The city has 500 fuel refilling stations.

The move aims to curb vehicular emissions and put a check on air pollution in the city which remains a persistent challenge for the residents.

To implement the ‘no fuel for overage vehicles’ policy, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras were being installed at fuel stations that will identify the age of vehicles based on their registration year.

These cameras will also detect whether a vehicle has a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate. If a vehicle is flagged as overage or non-compliant with pollution norms, petrol pump attendants will be alerted and fuel refilling will be denied.

“Our aim is to ensure total enforcement. We don’t want a situation where it’s working at some pumps and not at others. Once every station is equipped, we will launch the initiative citywide,” Sirsa had said.

Supreme Court ruling:

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruling banned diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi. While a 2014 National Green Tribunal order prohibits parking of vehicles aged over 15 years in public areas.

The Delhi government in 2024 issued detailed guidelines for handling end-of-life vehicles, stating that such vehicles could only be released from impoundment if owners either shifted them to private premises or registered them in another state after taking necessary approvals.