Govt lays down rules to seize, scrap, reuse end-of-life vehicles

City residents whose "end-of-life" vehicles have been impounded by authorities for violating environmental norms can now get them released after paying a fine-10,000 for cars, and 25,000 for two-wheelers and giving an undertaking that they will not be driven on city roads, if the owners have a personal parking space, according to new government guidelines issued on Tuesday.

- Alok KN Mishra

The new rules, issued by the transport department, direct officials in the handling of thousands of so-called "end-of-life vehicles" (ELVs), that are either illegally plying on city roads or parked in public spaces. They specify the rules to initiate action against such vehicle users, allowing them to sell them off in states where such restrictions do not exist, senior transport department officials said.

No vehicle older than 15 years is allowed to ply on Delhi roads, according to orders issued by the National Green Tribunal (2015) and the Supreme Court (2018). For diesel vehicles, this time period is 10 years.

The rules are meant to cut down on the number of vehicles on the city's roads with dated emission standards.

The officials said the department has uploaded the "Guidelines for Handling End of Life Vehicle (ELV) in Public Place 2024" on its website, and added the rules were framed in compliance of the Delhi high court orders issued in August 2023.