The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Road Transport Office (RTO) of Delhi to de-register all diesel vehicles over 10 years old . The order is effective immediately and the NGT has also asked the Delhi RTO to share data of the vehicles that’ll be de-registered.
While more details about this decision are awaited, it’s clear that new car sales will only benefit from this move. As thousands of cars will be taken off Delhi roads, many owners will have no choice apart from investing in another car. This would not only benefit carmakers with additional sales but used cars too could see an increased demand as some may struggle with immediate liquidity for a new vehicle.
It’s a well-known fact that many manufacturers have suffered due to the earlier ruling to ban vehicles with diesel engines larger than 2,000 cc. Vehicle makers have since then tried to convince the court to reverse the decision but haven’t been successful. This new ruling however should help them make up for some of the earlier lost volumes.
Amid the inconvenience for users and benefits for carmakers, the single-largest doubt regarding this decision is it’s effectiveness to reduce pollution. Unfortunately, the NGT continues to go against all available data suggesting that diesel vehicles are not as harmful as portrayed and that they aren’t the only ones to be blamed. This new ruling, like the earlier ones too comes with loopholes, raising doubts over the decision’ ability to curb pollution.
The National Capital Region (NCR) consists of areas from UP and Haryana in addition to Delhi. This means that vehicles from these states come to Delhi or pass Delhi regularly. With the new ruling not covering these states, it’s effectiveness is questionable since these vehicles, despite being 15-year old or poorly maintained will contribute to air-pollution in Delhi.
In addition, many people could look at getting their 10-year-old diesel vehicles registered in Noida or Gurgaon, although this might not be an easy process for many people, given the complexities in our RTOs. That brings us to the irony of this new ruling, which doesn’t seem to have the clarity to achieve its intended purpose – curb air-pollution!