Says will reduce pollution and boost automobile industry
Commercial vehicles will be deregistered in 15 years and private vehicles in 20 years if they fail to get fitness certificates, said Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari while announcing the vehicle scrappage policy in the Lok Sabha March 18, 2021. The policy was proposed in the Union Budget for 2021-22.
Every vehicle beyond the age-limit will have to undergo the mandatory automated fitness test, failing which it will be taken off the road and the owner will be fined.
The move will help reduce vehicular pollution and contribute to India’s efforts towards achieving its climate goals, Gadkari said. It will also strengthen the country’s road safety and create employment by providing a necessary boost to the automobile sector, he added.
He told the House that India has around 1.7 million vehicles that are older than 15 year but do not have a fitness certificate.
The minister suggested a slew of incentives for those buying a new vehicle after scrapping the old one:
Several scrapping centres will be set up across the country where people can sell their old automobiles at approximately 4-6 per cent of the value of the new vehicle, the minister said.
This will also help organise the informal scrapping sector and bring down costs of auto parts, he added.
The fitness certificate shall be provided by Automated Fitness Centres. “The ministry shall promote setting up of AFCs on a PPP model by the state government, private sector and automobile companies,” Gadkari was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
To discourage people from continue driving around in their ‘unfit’, polluting vehicles, the cost of registration renewal for old vehicles have been hiked.
A vehicle that fails the fitness test or fails to get its registration renewed will be termed ‘end of life vehicle’.
The rules are like to come into effect from the end of this year.
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