Days after the Delhi government temporarily lifted the fuel ban on older vehicles, a new order issued on Monday confirmed that fuel restrictions will now come into force from November 1 for overage vehicles in Delhi and five key districts of the National Capital Region (NCR). The ban applies to diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old, in accordance with existing directives from the National Green Tribunal and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
The fuel restrictions will be implemented simultaneously in six cities across the NCR—Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Sonipat—starting November 1. This decision was finalized during a CAQM meeting held on Tuesday following a written request by the Delhi government to review the enforcement timeline of the “no fuel” policy originally scheduled to start on July 1. Considering the concerns raised by the public and authorities, the commission decided to roll out the ban in a phased yet synchronised manner across the region, aiming to ensure smoother implementation and better compliance.
The Delhi government recently banned the supply of fuel to end-of-life (EOL) vehicles on July 1st as part of a campaign to reduce air pollution. This policy prohibited petrol stations from refuelling diesel vehicles that were more than ten years old and petrol vehicles that were more than fifteen years old. The plan called for installing automated camera systems at petrol stations to determine the age of vehicles in order to enforce the ban. The Delhi Traffic Police also had the authority to issue challans and seize the vehicles of infractions.
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However, the action caused a great deal of public outrage, with people lamenting the impact on middle-class car owners, the abrupt enforcement, and the lack of awareness. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the environment minister for Delhi, responded to the criticism by announcing that the ban would be lifted and that the government would develop a more workable strategy for handling older cars. He promised the populace that their concerns would be taken into consideration when developing a new plan. The rollback came after several national media outlets criticised the ban, saying it clashed with India's sustainable “repair-not-replace” ethos and called the policy "un-Indian" in spirit.
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Adding to the debate, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena wrote to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, urging the government to put the ban on hold. In his letter, Saxena emphasised that the public was unprepared for such a drastic move and that enforcing it would disproportionately hurt the middle class. He emphasised that it would be unfair to discard cars that had been driven for only a few thousand kilometres or that had been used sparingly, as many car owners spend their entire life savings on them. He added that any future policy must take into account the financial and emotional investments made in personal vehicles.
It was ultimately decided to delay and uniformly implement the fuel ban in all six NCR cities starting on November 1st, taking into consideration public opinion and suggestions from the Delhi government and CAQM. To make sure that car owners are aware of and ready for the impending restrictions, authorities are anticipated to launch a systematic awareness campaign in the upcoming months.
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