Delhi's old vehicles may undergo scrapping

The transport department of the Delhi government allows the release of overaged vehicles found parked in public spaces or operating on city roads once, provided the owner provides an undertaking. However, if the violation is repeated, the vehicles will be scrapped. The Delhi government has introduced a new set of guidelines to curb the movement of overaged or end-of-life vehicles, namely petrol-run vehicles above 15 years of age and diesel vehicles above 10 years. These vehicles, deemed as pollutants, have been prohibited from Delhi and the National Capital Region by the Supreme Court. As per the Guidelines for Handling End-of-life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi, 2024, which became effective on Tuesday, an overaged vehicle impounded by an enforcement agency in the capital can only be released under two conditions. Either the owner agrees to obtain a no-objection certificate from the transport department and registers it in another state beyond the boundaries of NCR, or the owner chooses to park it in a private space. Under both circumstances, the vehicle can be released once, subject to the payment of a penalty - Rs 10,000 for a car and Rs 5,000 for a two-wheeler - along with an undertaking from the owner. The application for release must be submitted within three weeks of the vehicle being impounded. If the owner opts to keep the vehicle in a designated private parking, it must be transported by a towing vehicle.