After implementing the stringent BS6 emission norms which only allow cleaner-burning internal combustion engine vehicles to be sold from 2020, it was only logical to take the old polluting vehicles off the road, especially looking at the deteriorating air quality in major metropolitan cities around India. The Union Minister of Road, Transport, and Highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari during the Budget 2021 finally announced that the Government will be introducing the vehicle scrappage policy which will be effective from April 2022.
While the Minister did not discuss details of the new Scrappage Policy, the details of which are likely to be shared in a couple of weeks from now, but the new scrappage policy is expected to offer incentives to owners who scrap their old vehicle and purchase new vehicles. While the incentives are unknown as of now, they are expected to be applicable to 20-year-old vehicles. Furthermore, the scrappage policy is expected to be applicable to commercial vehicles that are more than 15 years old and do not have a fitness certificate.
Additionally, both private and commercial vehicles of age are expected to undergo an automated fitness test at government-approved centres.
The new scrappage policy is in-line with the government’s vision of removing old polluting vehicles from the road especially commercial vehicles that have come of age and replace them with improved vehicles that not only come with better engine technology and are less harmful to the environment but also come with the new age safety features and pedestrian safety compliance that will reduce the number of accidents, injuries and deaths on the streets.
The new scrappage policy is said to remove 51 lakh light motor vehicles that are more than 20 years old, 17 lakh medium and heavy commercial vehicle with the age of more than 15 years, considerably reducing the air pollution and substantially improving the road safety standards.