Software to track original CNG kits ready, ban may go

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is expected to lift its ban on registration of “inuse“ vehicles retrofitted with CNG kits soon. A senior government official said, “The software for registration of CNG kits is ready to be launched. The ban should be lifted this month.“ Earlier this year, the AAP government had put a ban on registration of retrofitted vehicles after rampant complaints of fake kits.

The decision to lift the ban comes even as the government had lifted the ban partially in August for new vehicles which were fitted with CNG kits by the manufacturer. The vehicle manufacturer or its representative had to provide a certificate on the authenticity of the kit that was retrofitted on the vehicle.Currently, the ban on vehicles which have been fitted with kits from elsewhere is still on.

The software, said the official, will allow the kit manufacturer and dealers to register details of all the kits sold by them online. This database will allow the Delhi transport department to keep a tab on the CNG kits being put in vehicles, thus minimising the chances of fake kits being sold as easily , as they are now.

The ban was put in place after the department received several complaints about fake kits being used. The department conducted a survey and found that fake kits were being sold even by some authorised dealers.

In Delhi, the retrofitting is done after the sale of the vehicle. So despite being retrofitted by the vehicle manufacturer directly , these vehicles were considered in-use.

More than 25,000 such vehicles are sold by various vehicle manufacturers in the city every month. This is besides the lakhs of vehicles which are registered as CNG vehicles in Delhi, and which were retrofitted by dealers beside the manufacturer.

The software will have details of all the CNG kits by the original manufacturers, which will be uploaded and shared with the dealers as well. “This will allow us to trace the movement of the kit, and weed out fake installations,“ added the official.