I have read the Supreme Court judgement and it has no mention of anything on diesel cabs with all India permit.
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While observing that diesel taxis plying on Delhi roads need urgent attention, the Court has agreed to the government’s stance on possible ways to phase out diesel taxis from on May 10.
“Petrol emits carbon monoxide, CNG vehicles release oxides of nitrogen while diesel emits particulate matters, all of which are polluting agents, ” he said and referred to a report by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, which holds that other sources of pollution like dust, stubble burning etc. can not be underestimated.
Singhvi further added that diesel vehicles are fuel efficient and economical compared to petrol and CNG vehicles.
He said there was no rationale in the apex court imposing the ban on the mere assumption that diesel was a major pollutant of the capital’s air as there were several other factors that contributed for the rot. The Centre also wanted the ban on registration of new diesel cars.
“The committee will look into the issues raised by taxi operators and come up with appropriate policy recommendations to address the same in a time-bound manner”, said a ministry press release. “BS-IV compliant vehicles are not violating any emission norms”, argued senior advocate Abhishek Many Singhvi on behalf of SIAM.
The Supreme Court however has stated that it was willing to modify its stance on the registration of larger capacity diesel vehicles if an additional environment cess based on the vehicle’s price and engine size.
The court indicated that it would deal on Tuesday only with the problems created by its complete ban on diesel cabs in the NCR.
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“We, therefore, direct that all taxis including those operating under aggregators like OLA and UBER in the NCT of Delhi, plying under city permits shall move to CNG not later than March, 1”, it had said and later extended the period to April 30.
