Following the court suggestion, we as a voluntary interim measure, offered to pay one per cent of the ex-showroom price of the vehicle towards anticipated Environment Compensation Charge as a deposit, and not on the premise that our vehicles are polluting the environment. He has said that most of the society’s members were also willing to pay this environment protection charge.
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The ban on 2,000 cc + diesel vehicles was imposed by the Supreme Court in 2015, which also banned diesel vehicles older than 15 years from plying on the roads of Delhi NCR.
The SC bench, consisting of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi, also said that the 1 percent cess may be enhanced later, or may be dropped completely as contested by the central government. It came as a big blow to the Indian automobile industry with some hailing the decision as “unscientific”.
“Lifting of ban on bigger vehicles in the national capital region is a good move because this step alone will not address the emission issue”, Abdul Majeed, partner at Price Waterhouse, said in an e-mailed statement. The need of the hour is to update our emission norms, have a periodic fitness test in place for vehicles and upgrade the quality of fuel. Promoting environment friendly vehicles as well as significantly improving public transport are some of the areas which requires immediate attention.
The NGT earlier had imposed ban on registration of over 2,000 cc diesel cars in Delhi/NCR in an attempt to curb pollution.
The decision to levy this green cess on diesel cars with smaller engine capacities will be taken at a later date, SC said. This news comes as a great relief for companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Tata Motors, Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota.
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India’s courts have been pushing authorities to act over the filthy air in Delhi, which has been rated as one of the world’s most polluted cities in surveys.
