Delhi govt. puts brakes on fuel ban for overage vehicles amid outcry

Environmental Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the Delhi government will work to clean the air of the city, but ‘end of life’ vehicles (ELVs) will not allow water to be kept.

Mr. Sirsa said that he wrote to the Air Quality Management Commission in NCR and adjacent areas (CAQM), and that compulsory fuel stations reject gas or diesel from 1 July to ELVs and use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

“We will clean Delhi’s environment, but we will not allow Delhiites’s vehicles to be diluted. This is the solution of our Prime Minister Rekha Guptaji – promise to people, ”he said.

Ms. Gupta said that the government would make “all efforts” to address the problems of ELV ban. “The pain of the people of Delhi can be understood … Some of them are emotionally connected to talented vehicles by loved ones, and such less driven cars souvenir,” he said.

An official from Mr. Sirsa’s office, although the government did not give an official order, confirmed that it would not be implemented on Friday to execute ANPR at fuel stations. In the CAQM article, the Minister stated that technological integration issues, lack of coordination with neighboring states and public discontent. The authority said that the government is considering implementation based on real emissions rather than vehicle age.

The CAQM’s April 23rd directive ordered the rejection of fuel rejection of ELVs defined by Anpr at Delhi fuel stations since July 1. The same rule was to come into force in the Five NCR region from 1 November and in the rest of the NCR as of April 1, 2026. Initially, the Delhi government supported the movement by mimicking ELVs from the transportation department and traffic police fuel stations.

Mr. Sirsa announced in March that ELVs would be refueling from April 1, but the plan was postponed due to incomplete ANDR installation. Even before CAQM’s July, the transportation department was holding ELVs identified on the roads.

The AAM AADMI Party (AAP) claimed that the public opposition forced the government’s return. “The BJP government was hiding only behind a court order. But when people joined and raised their voices,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj, the President of Delhi of AAP, said.

In the meantime, Mr. Sirsa claimed that the AAP government had received money from new automobile vendors and set up Anpr cameras to target old vehicles.

According to Caqm data, Delhi has about 62 lakh elvi, while the rest of the NCR has about 44 lakh. In 2015, the National Green Court banned ELVs throughout NCR.

Ms. Gupta announced that the Supreme Court accepted the government’s petition. In the National Capital Region (NCR), there will be no punishment against diesel car owners older than 10 years of age and gasoline vehicles older than 15 years of age.

“We will continue to represent the interests of the people of Delhi by actively participating in the judicial process … This decision strengthens our decision to establish a balance between environmental protection and public comfort as it moves towards an advanced Delhi.” He said.