BS-VI Effect: Govt Draft Rules - No Registration Of BS-IV Vehicles Beyond June 30, 2020

To put a predefined guideline for phasing out BS-IV vehicles and focusing BS-VI compatible ones, the government has drafted a notification to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR). It proposes to stop the registration of BS-IV compliant vehicles manufactured before April 1, 2020, beyond June 30 in the same year.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH), which proposed this amendment in CMVR, is open for suggestions or objections from stakeholders, affected persons, companies, automakers and public by December 20 this year for reconsideration. The notification draft mentioned that these rules will be called the Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules 2017 and will come into effect on the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette.

As reported by PTI, the notification reportedly added "provided that, the new motor vehicles of categories M & N, conforming to Emission Standard BS-IV, manufactured before April 1, 2020 and sold in the form of drive away chasis, shall not be registered after September 30, 2020."

Vehicles with at least four wheels and are used for transporting passengers fall under the ‘M’ category of vehicles, whereas power-driver vehicles with at least four wheels but are primarily designed and used for transportation of goods fall under the ‘N’ category of vehicles.

If we think about it, this could be a right step in the correct direction. The whole point of skipping Euro V or BS-V grade of fuel was to tackle the ever-rising problem of air pollution in the country in an accelerated manner, specifically in metro cities like Delhi. If there isn’t a deadline to stop the sale and, in turn, the registration of vehicles which aren’t doing good to the environment, there is no point in shifting towards a cleaner fuel. That said, the feasibility of launching BS-VI compatible vehicles by April 2020 remains a concern for automakers.

It isn’t a problem for carmakers like Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi etc because they sell Euro-VI compatible cars in various other markets in the world. They could simply replicate the technology in India and become BS-VI ready. However, home-grown automakers like Mahindra, Tata, Force etc, are working overtime to ensure they don’t miss out on meeting the deadline.

Also Read:

Volvo India Could Launch BS-VI Compatible Cars Before April 2020

Delhi-NCT To Get BS-VI Grade Fuels From April 2018

Quicken Deployment Of BS-VI Vehicles By Incentivising Them: Mercedes-Benz