Studies conducted in the past have revealed that vehicular emissions are the single biggest contributor (> 50%) to pollution in Delhi
India’s capital Delhi is the second most polluted city in the world. There are multiple reasons including Delhi’s geographical location and vehicular pollution. Also, stubble burning in nearby states, local waste burning, industrial pollution, power plants and construction dust. Following the earlier orders by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court, the Delhi government has started acting against old petrol and diesel vehicles. Let’s check out the details.
10-year-old diesel / 15-year-old petrol vehicles seized
A fuel ban has been imposed for old petrol / diesel vehicles or end-of-life (EOL) vehicles in Delhi by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). Fuel stations have been equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that can detect old vehicles. Based on that, petrol vehicles more than 15 years old and diesel vehicles more than 10 years old are being denied fuel.
#WATCH | Delhi Police seized two end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) – 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles from a petrol pump.
Ashok Kumar, Traffic Inspector, says "Two motorcycles have been seized from here. As per guidelines, we will hand over to the registered vehicle… pic.twitter.com/p4VE3fOxAU
— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2025
Special teams comprising the Delhi Police, Traffic Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have also been deployed at various fuel stations. These teams have started identifying and seizing the old vehicles. Explaining the process, a Delhi police officer deployed at a fuel station said that old vehicles are being seized and sent to registered scrap dealers.
Such vehicles will be assessed before they are scrapped and the scrap value will be given to the vehicle owner. The police officer also explained that such end-of-life vehicles in Delhi are not eligible for insurance. As such, their presence on the roads is a risk for the owner and other road users.
It remains to be seen how the ban on old vehicles in Delhi will play out. There is significant anger among consumers, as evident with social media posts. In Delhi alone, around 62 lakh vehicles will be impacted by this ban. That’s a big number, which is likely to be a challenging task to manage.
Many of the owners may not even be aware that the ban has taken effect. Having your vehicle seized suddenly and sent to a scrap dealer can be a painful experience. Many people are entirely dependent on their vehicles for their livelihood.
Supreme Court order means relief unlikely
Governments have been known to backtrack on their decisions in cases where people protest in large numbers. Social media has emerged as an effective tool to assess the mood of the people. However, this case of banning end-of-life vehicles in Delhi is not exactly a government decision. While the enforcement part is being done by the government, the decision to ban old petrol / diesel vehicles in Delhi was first taken by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in April 2015.
This decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Due to this, the government may not have options to give any relaxation to owners of old vehicles in Delhi. While most of the impacted users seem unhappy, the auto industry can witness a sales boom if the ban on old vehicles is successfully implemented. EV manufacturers could benefit as well. Scrap and recycling dealers also stand to gain from the ban.
