First state govt to offer subsidy for scrapping old car: But is it enough?

In a move to promote the scrapping policy of old vehicles, the Delhi government has issued an order stating that one can avail of a flat benefit of Rs 50,000 if he scraps his old car while buying a new vehicle. The benefit will be given as a subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 in the road tax for the new vehicle to be purchased.

The officials of the transport department of Delhi have drafted a policy on this new move and will place this before the public before its implementation. The policy is currently under consideration at the finance department of the Delhi government and is awaiting its approval for the same.

As said by a senior government official, despite strict measures taken by the Delhi government, there is still a large number of vehicles which have completed their lifespan – 10 years for diesel vehicles and 15 years for petrol vehicles, but are still plying on the roads of National Capital Region (NCR). To promote the scrapping of such old vehicles more easily and cost-effectively, the Delhi government is contemplating attractive measures, which in turn will also be slightly more beneficial for the customers of such old vehicles.

For this new policy, the Delhi Government can come up with various slabs for the subsidy, depending on the category and price positioning of the old vehicles. There can also be different slabs for private and commercial vehicles. The new policy will also help the owners of such old vehicles to scrap their old vehicles and get themselves a newer, cleaner vehicle emitting relatively lesser emissions.

As a part of this, the car owners will be issued a “certificate of deposit” to avail of the said subsidy on the road tax of the new vehicle. Till recently, the Delhi government was deliberately impounding such old vehicles even if they were unused by their owners and parked in their garages or outside their homes. However, following the intervention of the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Government had to stop these actions.

According to statistics revealed by the Delhi government, around 55 lakh private and commercial vehicles were delisted in the NCR in 2021-2022 and 2022-23, following the completion of their life cycles. However, out of these 55 lakh vehicles, only 1.4 lakh vehicles were scrapped by their owners. Also, around 6.3 lakh such vehicles were registered outside the National Capital Region following the issuance of a No Objection Certificate by their old owners.

Parked old vehicles getting seized

In 2021, the National Green Tribunal and Supreme Court introduced rules to tackle high pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR). These rules allow the Delhi Transport Department to seize and scrap diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years on public roads. Recently, it was observed that the Delhi Transport Department was actively seizing old, unused vehicles parked in owners’ lots.

According to the latest circular, owners can no longer park such old vehicles unused in open areas or public parking, although secure garage parking is allowed. This means if you use common parking in a society, your car might be seized. The Delhi Transport Department also issued a circular to register all 10-year-old diesel cars and 15-year-old petrol cars at respective RTO offices, leaving owners with no choice but to sell in states without such rules or scrap their cars.