Government to approach Supreme Court over ban on diesel taxis in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Centre will request the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to ban non-CNG taxis in the National Capital Region, seeking more time to put in place alternatives, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

“We are working with the state governments to deal with the problem of rising pollution and it will take some time to come up with viable solutions. We have decided to put forward our points before the Supreme Court and request them to reconsider the decision,” Gadkari said after an interministerial meeting that he chaired.

Minister for heavy industries Anant Geete and minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javadekar were also present.

The Supreme Court banned all non-CNG taxis from plying in the capital starting May 1to curb pollution. Almost 40,000 taxis have gone off the road as a result, causing problems for commuters in Delhi and the NCR.

“The government will request the apex court that another extension should be granted to diesel taxis to ply in Delhi-NCR till the time a viable alternative is worked out,” a senior government official told ET.

“The ban has created an unprecedented situation of thousands of taxis getting off-road. This has resulted in immediate loss of jobs to thousands of people and also serious commuting problems in NCR,” Gadkari said.

The minister said the government has already taken steps to curb pollution, including implementation of BS-VI emission norms from April 1, 2020, for which oil companies will invest over Rs 60,000 crore.

“I’ve been told that in the wake of the ban, major companies in Delhi-NCR have decided not to provide any transport to employees. IT and BPO sector have late working hours and non-availability of safe transport facilities will directly pose a security threat,” he said.

To tackle the problem of rising pollution in the capital, the government has started promoting bio-fuel and has set standards for ethanol, biodiesel and electric hybrid vehicles.

“We have a plan to infuse 7 million hybrid and electric vehicles on the road by 2020 under the national mission on electric mobility. We are already offering subsidies on electric vehicles,” Geete said.



Ministry proposes policy for voluntary fleet modernisation
The road transport and highways ministry will soon send the draft of a voluntary vehicle fleet modernisation policy for four-wheelers older than 12 years for inter-ministerial consultation.

The policy proposes giving a discount on new vehicles to those voluntary scrapping their vehicles older than 12 years. This would include a manufacturer discount and a rebate on excise duty.

The policy will cover both commercial and passenger vehicles and the government will give certificates of discounts to people who voluntarily scrap their old vehicles.

The discounts can be availed by producing these certificates at the time of purchasing new vehicles. The government will also certify scrapyards for old vehicles, a senior official said.

“We’ll be proposing a 50-60% rebate on excise duty to the finance ministry for people going for modernisation of their fleet,” the official said. In phase II, the government will provide similar incentives for old two-wheeler vehicles.