Delhi govt halts End-of-Life vehicle impounding after public backlash, technical issues

NEW DELHI: Merely two days after its rollout, the Delhi government has put its End-of-Life (EOL) vehicle impounding on hold, which involved a ban on providing fuel to diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years.

Amid the backlash from opposition and public outcry, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa confirmed that the city will not impound old vehicles for now and formally wrote to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to suspend the policy.

In a letter to the Commission, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa wrote that the implementation of this direction, which came into effect July 1, 2025, has revealed “certain issues” that must be addressed before they are fully implemented.

#WATCH | Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa writes to the Commission for Air Quality Management to place on hold the direction which mandates the denial of fuel to End-of-Life (EOL) vehicles in Delhi

He says, “We will clean the environment of Delhi and will not… pic.twitter.com/I9yvcuDrh2

— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2025

At a press conference, Sirsa raised concerns over the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, saying they are not functioning properly. He pointed out issues like technical glitches, non-working sensors, and the failure to identify High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) plates.

He also noted that the system has not been integrated with NCR data and has not been implemented in cities like Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad.

“We have informed them that the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that were installed are not a robust system, and there are still many challenges with them. Technical glitches, non-working sensors, and malfunctioning speakers, all these challenges are there. It has not been integrated with the NCR data yet. It is not able to identify HSRP plates. We also said that such a law has not been implemented in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad and the rest of NCR till now”, Sirsa said.

Just a day earlier, only 80 end-of-life vehicles were impounded on the first day of Delhi’s newly enforced fuel ban targeting old vehicles. Officials attributed the low number to fewer vehicles showing up at fuel stations. According to official records, Delhi has around 60.14 lakh deregistered End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles, with a significant number still in active use.

Data from the VAHAN database shows the city has over 62 lakh EoL vehicles, including 41 lakh two-wheelers and 18 lakh four-wheelers. This means nearly 62 lakh vehicles would have been affected by the rule. Sirsa said that the Delhi government is committed to cleaning the environment without confiscating vehicles to be confiscated. He also proposed that the vehicle ban should focus on pollution levels rather than just age, and suggested implementing the system across the entire NCR before applying it to Delhi.

“We will clean the environment of Delhi and will not allow the vehicles of Delhi to be confiscated. This is the resolution of our Delhi Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta ji, towards the people of Delhi, this is her promise to the people of Delhi… It will be better if this system is implemented in the entire NCR and then it is implemented in Delhi. We are also looking for a solution that the vehicles should not be banned on the basis of age, but should be banned considering their pollution capacity,” Sirsa said.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) notified the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025, on January 6, 2025, to ensure the environmentally safe management of end-of-life vehicles.

Due to the continuous decline in Delhi’s air quality, the government implemented the End-of-Life vehicle impounding policy to curb pollution. However, following a strong public outcry and concerns over its impact on vehicle owners, the government decided to put the policy on hold just two days after its rollout. (ANI)