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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
End-of-life vehicles to be seized at Delhi's fuel stations
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have been made operational at 382 fuelling stations in the city to seize end-of-life vehicles (ELVs)—diesel-run vehicles 10 years or older and petrol-run ones 15 years or older—operating illegally in the Capital, officials aware of the matter said, adding that joint teams of transport department, traffic police and civic bodies have been deployed for the purpose. The seized vehicles will directly be sent to a scrapping facility and they will be disposed of as per the Guidelines for Handling of End of Life Vehicle in Public Place 2024, officials said. Number plate recognition cameras at a petrol station in Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo) Starting 6am on Tuesday, when such a vehicle enters a fuel station, ANPR cameras will instantly capture the number and cross-check it with the VAHAN central database, said Virinder Sharma, technical member of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR. 'If the vehicle is found to be end-of-life, it will be flagged by the system and an announcement will also be made to the fuel operator to deny fuel,' said Sharma. The violation is also logged simultaneously and shared with enforcement agencies for further action, which includes on-the-spot impounding and subsequent scrapping, he said. The move comes on a CAQM directive dated April 23, seeking to curb the operation of ELVs to curb pollution, in line with orders issued by the National Green Tribunal and Supreme Court. While a deadline of July 1 was set for Delhi, the order will come into effect on November 1 at Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Sonepat across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. For the rest of NCR, a deadline of April 1, 2026, has been set. Senior Delhi Traffic Police officers said traffic personnel have been deployed at 89 fuel stations and law-and-order police will also be deployed to curb unruly incidents. 'The deployment of traffic personnel at the petrol pumps will be round-the-clock and in two shifts. At least two traffic personnel will be deployed at each pump in one shift. ANPR cameras with an alarm facility have already been installed at Delhi's petrol pumps,' additional commissioner of police (traffic) Dinesh Kumar Gupta said. Another police officer, not wishing to be named, said: 'The seized vehicles will be kept at traffic police pits or at the scrap yards of authorised scrap dealers for 15 days, giving their owners time to get them released after paying the penalty and submitting affidavits, mentioning that they will send the vehicles out of Delhi's jurisdiction and not drive them in the city.' According to the VAHAN database, there are around 6.2 million ELVs in Delhi, of which 4.1 million are two-wheelers and 1.8 million are four-wheelers. There are 2.75 million, 1.24 million and 610,000 ELVs in the NCR districts of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan, respectively, according to the database. In a joint press conference of the transport department and traffic police last week, CAQM said that it screened 7.78 million ELVs at fuel stations between June 1 and 23, of which 136,000 were ELVs and 800,000 were operating without valid pollution-under-control certificates (PUCCs). 'This data translates to roughly 0.3 million vehicles being screened every day, out of which around 6,000 or so vehicles are ELV and around 35,000 did not have a PUC,' Sharma said at the press conference. Niharika Rai, secretary-cum-commissioner of the Delhi transport department, says the department is fully prepared to enforce the norms and that at least one official from either the transport department, police or civic body will be deployed. 'The ANPR cameras take milliseconds to detect ELVs... The data from these ANPR cameras have also helped us identify vulnerable fuelling stations, where possibly the quantum of ELVs is high,' said Rai. Rai said that while ELVs will be impounded and taken for scrapping, violators can submit an affidavit in addition to a fine to take back their vehicle. She clarified that CNG vehicles were not part of the plan. Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta said that the government is working to ensure that the public is not inconvenienced. 'We are working for a smooth transition and how to implement it effectively.' A CAQM official said that besides the arrangements, they asked fuel stations to designate nodal officers for better coordination with enforcement teams. 'Adequate number of police personnel will be deployed besides PCR vans, to avoid untoward incidents arising at fuel stations for denial of fuel,' said the official, The official said that a contact list of officers from the transport department, municipal corporation, traffic police, MoPNG and CAQM was made available at every fuel station. 'The transport department's daily data will be shared with CAQM,' the official added.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Panel confirms July 1 ban for end-of-life vehicles
New Delhi: The Commission on Air Quality Management, in a joint conference on Friday, confirmed that end-of-life (EOL) vehicles would be denied fuel in Delhi from July 1. Not only that, such vehicles would be impounded on the spot and taken for scrapping. The press conference was also addressed by officials of Delhi govt's transport department and Delhi Traffic Police, who said that they had identified hotspots where most EOL vehicles still operated. The officials said that between June 1 and 23, almost 1.4 lakh vehicles were identified as EOL, while overall 8.1 lakh vehicles had been identified as such. They added that automatic number plate recognition cameras have been installed at 498 fuel stations, of which 382 serve petrol and diesel vehicles and 116, CNG. The officials, however, clarified that no action would be taken against overaged CNG vehicles. The ANPR technology enables real-time recording and tracking of vehicle data through a centralised database and access all information, including the age, of the vehicle in microseconds. 'We have finally decided to resolve the longstanding problem of taking EOL vehicles off the streets,' said Virinder Sharma, member, technical, CAQM. 'The matter of removing EOL vehicles on Delhi's roads was taken up in 2015 by the National Green Tribunal and later in 2018 by the Supreme Court. However, it could not be implemented because of the absence of technology like ANPR.' Sharma pointed out that EOL vehicles emit pollutants. Research studies have shown that a BS4 vehicle emits 5.5 times more emissions that a BS6 vehicle. As per the guidelines, petrol vehicles that are 15 years or older and diesel vehicles older than 10 years have reached the end of their lives. Delhi has over 80 lakh registered vehicles, and CAQM said that of this, around 62 lakh vehicles were EOL, of which 41 lakh were two-wheelers. Officials said that the different agencies, including police and the transport department, will deploy people to act against non-compliant vehicles, many of which are running on outdated and high-emission BSII and BSIII fuel norms. India currently adheres to the BSVI, or Bharat Stage VI, norm. Officials said that they had also recognised some EOL hotspots and special teams will be deputed there. 'We have done a lot of publicity and also held meetings with the dealers, seeking their cooperation,' said Niharika Rai, secretary-cum-commissioner, transport department. When asked about action against the EOL vehicles post-detection, she declared, 'They will be impounded and scrapped.' Meanwhile, Delhi Police officers said they would ensure the implementation was peaceful. They do not anticipate any law and order problem at any retail outlet. 'At any fuel outlet, no law and order situation will be allowed to develop. We hope people will cooperate and voluntarily take their EOL vehicles to the scrappers,' said Ajay Chaudhary, Special commissioner of police (Traffic). CAQM said that ANPR would also be installed at all 156 entry points to Delhi soon. At fuel stations, ANPR cameras would detect the EoL vehicles and announce their presence. A nodal officer would then coordinate with the enforcement team. Officials said that an adequate number of police personnel, besides PCR vans, would be posted near the fuel stations, particularly at the hotspots. "Non-compliance by fuel station operators will lead to penalties under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Impounding and further disposal of EOL vehicles identified at fuel stations will be in accordance with RVSF Rules and Guidelines issued by the Delhi govt's transport department, for handling end-of-life vehicles in public places of Delhi,' CAQM said. The same rules will apply to five high vehicle-density cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Sonipat from Nov 1, while the rule will apply to the remaining NCR districts from April 1 next year, according to CAQM. As per the pollution watchdog, the transport sector in Delhi-NCR contributes around 28per cent of PM2.5, 41per cent of sulphur dioxide and 78per cent of nitrogen oxide emissions to overall air pollution.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
End of life vehicles in delhi will be denied fuel and impounded from July 1
New Delhi: The Commission on Air Quality Management, in a joint conference on Friday, confirmed that end-of-life (EOL) vehicles would be denied fuel in Delhi from July 1. Not only that, such vehicles would be impounded on the spot and taken for scrapping. The press conference was also addressed by officials of Delhi govt's transport department and Delhi Traffic Police, who said that they had identified hotspots where most EOL vehicles still operated. The officials said that between June 1 and 23, almost 1.4 lakh vehicles were identified as EOL, while overall 8.1 lakh vehicles had been identified as such. They added that automatic number plate recognition cameras have been installed at 498 fuel stations, of which 382 serve petrol and diesel vehicles and 116, CNG. The officials, however, clarified that no action would be taken against overaged CNG vehicles. The ANPR technology enables real-time recording and tracking of vehicle data through a centralised database and access all information, including the age, of the vehicle in microseconds. "We have finally decided to resolve the longstanding problem of taking EOL vehicles off the streets," said Virinder Sharma, member, technical, CAQM. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cuối cùng, chơi miễn phí game chiến thuật hay nhất 2025! Sea of Conquest Phát ngay Undo "The matter of removing EOL vehicles on Delhi's roads was taken up in 2015 by the National Green Tribunal and later in 2018 by the Supreme Court. However, it could not be implemented because of the absence of technology like ANPR." You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi Sharma pointed out that EOL vehicles emit pollutants. Research studies have shown that a BS4 vehicle emits 5.5 times more emissions that a BS6 vehicle. As per the guidelines, petrol vehicles that are 15 years or older and diesel vehicles older than 10 years have reached the end of their lives. Delhi has over 80 lakh registered vehicles, and CAQM said that of this, around 62 lakh vehicles were EOL, of which 41 lakh were two-wheelers. Officials said that the different agencies, including police and the transport department, will deploy people to act against non-compliant vehicles, many of which are running on outdated and high-emission BSII and BSIII fuel norms. India currently adheres to the BSVI, or Bharat Stage VI, norm. Officials said that they had also recognised some EOL hotspots and special teams will be deputed there. "We have done a lot of publicity and also held meetings with the dealers, seeking their cooperation," said Niharika Rai, secretary-cum-commissioner, transport department. When asked about action against the EOL vehicles post-detection, she declared, "They will be impounded and scrapped." Meanwhile, Delhi Police officers said they would ensure the implementation was peaceful. They do not anticipate any law and order problem at any retail outlet. "At any fuel outlet, no law and order situation will be allowed to develop. We hope people will cooperate and voluntarily take their EOL vehicles to the scrappers," said Ajay Chaudhary, Special commissioner of police (Traffic). CAQM said that ANPR would also be installed at all 156 entry points to Delhi soon. At fuel stations, ANPR cameras would detect the EoL vehicles and announce their presence. A nodal officer would then coordinate with the enforcement team. Officials said that an adequate number of police personnel, besides PCR vans, would be posted near the fuel stations, particularly at the hotspots. "Non-compliance by fuel station operators will lead to penalties under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Impounding and further disposal of EOL vehicles identified at fuel stations will be in accordance with RVSF Rules and Guidelines issued by the Delhi govt's transport department, for handling end-of-life vehicles in public places of Delhi," CAQM said. The same rules will apply to five high vehicle-density cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Sonipat from Nov 1, while the rule will apply to the remaining NCR districts from April 1 next year, according to CAQM. As per the pollution watchdog, the transport sector in Delhi-NCR contributes around 28% of PM2.5, 41% of sulphur dioxide and 78% of nitrogen oxide emissions to overall air pollution.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Delhi: End-of-Life vehicles at fuel pumps will get impounded from July 1
Beginning July 1, any End-of-Life (EoL) vehicle – diesel cars other than 10 years, and petrol older than 15 years – that arrives at Delhi's 382 petrol and diesel stations will be denied fuel impounded on the spot and sent directly to a scrapping facility, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said on Friday. Delhi has 382 petrol and diesel stations. (HT Archive) The enforcement of the new rule will be carried out by joint teams of the Delhi transport department, Delhi Traffic Police, and municipal bodies, stationed at fuel stations that are equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, officials said. In a joint press conference, CAQM, along with the Delhi transport department and traffic police, said a total of 7.78 million vehicles were screened via ANPR cameras between June 1 and 23. Of these, 136,000 were flagged as EoL, and nearly 800,000 were found without valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. 'This means around 300,000 vehicles are scanned every day, out of which 6,000 are EoL and 35,000 lack a PUC,' said CAQM member (technical) Virinder Sharma. 'As a vehicle enters a fuelling station, the ANPR system captures its number plate and checks the VAHAN database for registration details, fuel type and age. If flagged as EoL, an alert will notify the fuel operator to deny service. Simultaneously, the violation is logged and sent to enforcement teams.' ANPR cameras have now been installed at 498 fuelling stations across the city, including 116 CNG stations. While EoL vehicles will not be penalised at CNG pumps for now, PUC checks will still be conducted. The new policy follows CAQM's April 23 directive, which sought liquidation of all EoLs in NCR in a phased manner – in compliance with previous directions by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It mandates a phased ban on fuelling EoL vehicles across the National Capital Region (NCR) — starting with Delhi from July 1, five high vehicle density NCR districts (Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Sonipat) from November 1, 2025, and the rest of NCR from April 1, 2026. 'The installation of ANPR cameras in the rest of NCR is under progress,' Sharma added. Niharika Rai, secretary-cum-commissioner of the Delhi transport department, said her department was ready to enforce the new rules. 'We've run extensive awareness campaigns and held meetings with stakeholders. Vehicles flagged by the ANPR system will be impounded and towed to scrapping facilities. However, violators can pay a fine and submit an affidavit to retrieve their vehicles,' she said. Rai added all EoL vehicles identified at fuelling stations in June were issued e-challans automatically upon detection. The EoL guidelines for 2024 specify fines of ₹ 10,000 for four-wheelers and ₹ 5,000 for two-wheelers. In addition to these fines, owners must also pay towing and parking charges and submit an undertaking that the vehicle will be removed from Delhi's jurisdiction. According to the VAHAN database, Delhi has approximately 6.2 million EoL vehicles — 4.1 million two-wheelers and 1.8 million four-wheelers. In the NCR districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, there are another 2.75 million, 1.24 million, and 610,000 EoL vehicles respectively. Special commissioner (traffic) Ajay Chaudhary said that dedicated enforcement teams will be deployed at each fuelling station. 'The EoL rule has existed for some time, but stricter enforcement is now essential to improve air quality. We are assessing each fuel station's specific needs — whether it operates 24x7 or is located in a dense fuel station cluster — to deploy staff accordingly,' he said.
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
End of road for end-of-life vehicles from July 1: CAQM
Starting July 1, all end-of-life (EOL) vehicles will be denied fuel in Delhi and will be subject to actions such as deregistration, impounding and scrapping, the air quality watchdog announced on Friday. Around 100 teams of traffic and transport department officials will be deployed to flag down EOL vehicles and all 520 fuel stations in the city will be equipped with technology to identify such vehicles. India currently adheres to Bharat Stage VI , or BS VI, emission norms for vehicular fuels, but there are old cars that still run on BS-II and BS III standards. "The EOL policy started around 2015. The Supreme Court took notice of it in 2018 and Delhi govt began implementing the policy," said Virinder Sharma, member (technical), Commission for Air Quality Management. "However, the implementation halted when the matter was taken to the courts. Now, it's time to act, given the huge number of such vehicles in Delhi and NCR. That's why CAQM issued this directive No. 89 to end this problem." According to CAQM, there are 62 lakh EOL vehicles in Delhi, of which 41 lakh are two-wheelers. A CAQM official said that the fuel stations in the city have been equipped with automatic number plate recognition technology, enabling them to track and record vehicles through the centralised Vahan database. In 2024, 39,273 EOL vehicles were impounded in Delhi. CAQM stated that plans to install similar systems at the 156 entry points into Delhi will follow soon to prevent such vehicles from driving into the city. "Till now, 3.6 crore vehicles have been screened through this system and 4.9 lakh identified as end-of-life. In addition, 29.5 lakh vehicles have been forced to renew their pollution-under-control certificates," revealed Sharma. Sharma added that like Delhi, the rules will also apply to the high-vehicle-density cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Sonipat from Nov 1. This will be extended to all the NCR districts from April 1, 2026. CAQM pointed out that several studies have highlighted how overaged vehicles contributed significantly to pollution in the NCR. "BS IV vehicles have 4.5 times higher PM emissions than BS VI vehicles," the CAQM official said. As of March 2025, Haryana had 2.7 lakh EOL vehicles, UP 1.3 lakh and Rajasthan 6.2 lakh. When asked about public buses arriving from other states to designated stations in Delhi, such as Kashmere Gate or Anand Vihar ISBTs and getting refuelled at their centralised stations, officials said that a framework of action against them would be formulated soon.
