Summary
- Manjinder Singh Sirsa calls for pollution checks based on vehicle usage, not age.
- Supreme Court to review BS-VI vehicles’ end-of-life limits for petrol and diesel cars.
- Delhi’s fuel ban on old vehicles paused after public backlash and operational challenges.
Delhi’s EoL Policy Debate Intensifies
As Delhi grapples with worsening air quality, the contentious End-of-Life (EoL) vehicle policy is back in the spotlight. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has argued that vehicle pollution levels should be assessed based on usage rather than age. His statement comes just ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on whether BS-VI compliant vehicles should face age-based restrictions of 15 years for petrol vehicles and 10 years for diesel vehicles in the Delhi-NCR region.
Sirsa pointed out that many older vehicles, which are rarely driven, often emit less pollution compared to newer but overused vehicles. This challenges the current policy framework that automatically categorizes vehicles as polluting based solely on their age. His comments have reignited the debate on balancing environmental mandates with practical enforcement measures.
As a citizen, I care about clean air. But Delhi’s age-based vehicle ban feels unfair, unscientific & out of touch. I wrote about why it’s the wrong fix.
— Akshay (@Akshay) July 8, 2025
🔗 https://t.co/RjXpyxSHUT#DelhiPollution #PolicyFailure #ClimateJustice pic.twitter.com/hFzlgJTiRs
Judicial Scrutiny and Policy Challenges
- Supreme Court to examine EoL limits for modern BS-VI vehicles.
- The 2014 NGT order prohibits 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles in NCR.
- Public backlash led to Delhi pausing its ‘No Fuel’ rule within two days of enforcement.
The Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai has agreed to scrutinize the current policy, especially its impact on BS-VI vehicles, which are engineered for lower emissions. The 2014 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) forms the legal foundation for banning older vehicles from roads, seizing non-compliant units, and preventing their public parking.
Earlier this month, Delhi implemented a strict ‘No Fuel’ mandate on overage vehicles in alignment with directives from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). However, facing severe operational challenges and citizen protests, the city paused the policy within 48 hours.
Environmental Mandates vs. Public Concerns
- Delhi’s vehicle ban linked to CAQM’s clean air objectives.
- Citizens argue for usage-based checks over blanket bans.
- Infrastructure gaps hinder effective enforcement of EoL rules.
Public sentiment has been sharply divided. While environmentalists support tough measures to curb vehicular emissions, vehicle owners argue that the age-based bans unfairly penalize lightly used cars that are still roadworthy. The lack of advanced pollution-check infrastructure and insufficient scrappage facilities has further complicated enforcement.
The government’s proposal to incorporate vehicle mileage and usage into pollution assessments could emerge as a middle path, but legal clarity from the Supreme Court remains critical to any policy shift.
Environmental Mandates vs. Public Concerns
Experts suggest that the EoL policy should be synchronized with India’s voluntary vehicle scrappage policy introduced in 2021, which incentivizes owners to retire older vehicles through rebates and tax benefits. Without this alignment, the current approach risks creating economic burdens for middle-class vehicle owners while failing to guarantee an actual reduction in emissions.
The Road Ahead for Delhi’s Air Quality Drive
The outcome of the Supreme Court’s hearing will have far-reaching implications for Delhi’s air quality strategy and the broader debate on sustainable urban transport. While age-based bans have proven effective in reducing visible pollution, experts warn that without simultaneous upgrades in public transport and green vehicle incentives, such measures may create logistical chaos rather than lasting environmental impact.
The discussion now hinges on whether Delhi can strike a balance between environmental urgency and practical policy design. A usage-based pollution index could be a game-changer, but it would require significant investment in monitoring and compliance mechanisms.
