Draft rules on phasing out the government. Vehicles over 15 years old issued, Ministry seeks comment

On finalizing a proposal issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the government departments will not be able to renew the registration of their vehicles older than 15 years from April 1 next year.

Notification of the draft rules was issued by the Ministry on 12 March, seeking comments, objections and suggestions from stakeholders within thirty days. The certificate of registration for government vehicles will not be renewed after a gap of 15 years.

According to the notification, this rule will apply to all government vehicles – central and state governments, union territories, public sector undertakings, municipal and autonomous bodies.

“From 1 April 2022, government departments will not be able to renew their vehicle registration certificate after 15 years. This will apply to all government – central, state, union territories, public sector undertakings, municipal bodies and autonomous bodies, ”the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways said in a tweet.

The development comes close on the heels of a voluntary vehicle-scraping policy announced in the Union Budget on 1 February that provides for fitness testing for individual vehicles after 20 years while commercial vehicles require it after 15 years of completion Will be.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that initially one crore vehicles would be removed, and this policy would lead to new investments of around 10,000 crore and create more than 50,000 jobs.

Such older vehicles are estimated to be 10-12 times more polluting than the latest ones. The government had earlier said that it plans to impose a green tax on older, polluting vehicles, exempting such vehicles from vehicles on strong businesses, electric vehicles and alternative fuels such as CNG, ethanol and LPG. The revenue collected through green tax will be used to combat pollution.

Under the scheme, green vehicles can be levied at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of 10 to 25% of road tax for transport vehicles older than eight years, as sent to the states for consultation after approval by the ministry. Tax proposal. .