Government introduces Vehicle Scrapping Policy for phasing out of unfit, polluting vehicles

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday, March 18, 2021, introduced the Vehicle Scrapping Policy in the Lok Sabha which is aimed at creating an eco-system for phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles. Making a statement on the policy on the floor of the House, Mr Gadkari said it will bring transformational changes in the automobile sector by reducing vehicular emission of pollutants.

He said it will also improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles, ensure road and vehicular safety, attract investment, boost the availability of low-cost raw materials for industries and increase GST for the central and state governments. The minister informed the House that more than 3.7 crore jobs will be created in the country with the implementation of the policy. Mr Gadkari said the scheme will provide incentives to owners of old vehicles to scrap their old and unfit vehicles through registered scrapping centres after producing scrapping certificates.

The Minister asserted that India will become the global leader in the automobile sector in the next five years and the country will be able to indigenously produce 100 per cent lithium-ion batteries in the next one year. Mr Gadkari sought cooperation from members of Parliament to set up fitness centres, pollution centres and driving centres for vehicles in their respective constituencies.

Highlighting the salient features of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, the Minister said, it is proposed that private vehicles will be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificates. He said, it is also proposed that commercial vehicles will be de-registered after 15 years in case of failure to get the fitness certificates. He said a disincentive measure, increased fees for fitness certificates and fitness tests may be applicable for commercial vehicles from 15 years onwards from the date of initial registration.

Mr. Gadkari said that rules for fitness tests and scrapping centres will be tentatively notified by 1st October of this year. The government has also fixed the deadline to scrap vehicles above 15 years of age which are used by the government departments as well as PSUs from April 1, 2022. For heavy commercial vehicles, the mandatory fitness testing will commence on April 1, 2023. Similarly, mandatory fitness testing will be carried out in a phased manner for other categories of vehicles from June 1, 2024.