NGT DIRECTIVE. Order will hit only consumers: industry veterans

The directive by the National Green Tribunal on Monday, to ban all 10-year old diesel vehicles from Delhi’s roads, will only hurt consumers, said industry veterans and analysts.

While they said such an order will be good for the environment in the long run, it should be reviewed and be synced with policies such as scrappage policy, which is still just in the nascent stage.

“While we will wait for the matter of detailing, the immediate ban on diesel vehicles is a concern for everybody. Users who have bought the vehicles at a time when they were conforming to government norms, why should they be put in troubled now?” RS Kalsi, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Suzuki India, pointed out while speaking to BusinessLine . “First of all, the Centre should look at it in a holistic manner, which is -- 98 per cent of pollution is coming from other sources and only two per cent from vehicles. Second, the scrappage policy should come at the earliest so that authorities can address concerns in a better way over the long run,” he said.

Such a policy, which would incentivise consumers in return for older vehicles, can help people buy newer vehicles with latest features and meet emission norms, he added.

Benefit of scrappage policy According to government reports, once implemented, the scrappage policy could dismantle around 28 million old vehicles still plying on Indian roads that are registered before March 31, 2005.

“The government too, is working (towards better environment) with auto manufacturers for the proposed implementation of the BS VI norms by 2020.

“In addition to this, an early introduction of the proposed scrappage policy by the government could motivate vehicle users towards being part of the larger mission of a green environment,” said Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing), Hyundai Motor India. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, which was also one of the worst hit because of the ban on two-litre and above diesel vehicles on Delhi’s roads, said that such decisions should take place step-by-step.

“The authorities could have looked at phasing pre-BS I vehicles first, followed by BS II and BS III vehicles. This would have allowed time for existing customers to replace their old vehicles,” said Shekar Viswanathan, Vice-Chairman and Whole-time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

Liftime road tax Also, there are questions like ‘what would happen to the lifetime road tax that customers have paid (generally for 15 years) during the registration of their vehicles 10 years back?’

“While the reason for wanting to ban polluting vehicles is easily understood, any change to existing laws that is immediate or in the short term could cause serious implementation problems,” said Kumar Kandaswami, Senior Director, Deloitte in India.

Going by the announcement, if a person bought a used, 10-year old diesel car yesterday, it can potentially be useless tomorrow, irrespective of what condition it is in, he quipped.

“There will be uncertainty and there is no clear cut answer, from what the government is trying to do. Such a decision will compel many companies to hold back investments in India. Resale value of luxury cars will also go for a toss,” said Puneet Gupta, Associate Director at IHS Automotive.

However, the Society of Manufactures of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) was delighted to hear this decision and said the government should take some firm steps like these in combating the ever-increasing pollution levels.

Demand for ban “Something similar can be easily done in de-registering the polluting petrol two-wheelers used in e-commerce and food deliveries businesses, which will greatly impact pollution levels. There are over 21,00,000 two-wheelers engaged in the commercial sector in India, running daily in the streets generating massive emission of carbon dioxide,” said Sohinder Gill, Director (Corporate Affairs), SMEV.

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