Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the vehicle scrappage policy in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In case of failure to get a fitness certificate, commercial vehicles will be de-registered after 15 years. Private vehicles will be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificates, the Minister said.
He added that under the new vehicle scrappage policy, owners of old vehicles will get strong incentives to scrap old and unfit vehicles.
"We have issued an advisory to all vehicle manufacturers to offer 5 per cent discount while selling a new vehicle against a scrapping certificate," the minister said in Lok Sabha.
"In the interest of a clean environment and rider and pedestrian safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is introducing the 'Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program' or 'Vehicle Scrapping Policy', which is aimed at creating an eco-system for phasing out of unfit and polluting vehicles," said the Union Minister in a suo-moto statement.
"The objectives of the policy are to reduce the population of old and defective vehicles, achieve a reduction in vehicular air pollutants to fulfill India's climate commitments, improve road and vehicular safety, achieve better fuel efficiency, formalize the currently informal vehicle scrapping industry, and boost the availability of low-cost raw materials for automotive, steel and electronics industry," Gadkari added.
The criteria for a vehicle to be scrapped is primarily based on the fitness of vehicles through Automated Fitness Centres (AFCs) in case of commercial vehicles and non-renewal of Registration in case of private vehicles.
"The Ministry shall promote setting up of AFCs on a PPP model by state government, private sector, automobile compes etc.," he said.
All vehicles of the central government, state government, municipal corporations, Panchayats, State Transport Undertakings, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and autonomous bodies with the Union and state governments may be de-registered and scrapped after 15 years from the date of registration.
The tentative date for scrappage of government and PSUs vehicles above 15 years of age is April 1, 2022.
The new scrappage policy was proposed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech last month.
( With inputs from ANI )
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