Delhi's Vehicle Relief: How New NoC Rules Help Clear Polluted Roads

Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said that the Delhi government has decided to keep in abeyance the restrictive clause from the "Guidelines for Handling End of Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi, 2024" which limited the application for NOC to only within one year of a vehicle's registration expiry.

He said this move will primarily benefit owners of diesel vehicles aged over 10 years and petrol vehicles over 15 years old, allowing them to obtain an NOC to re-register their vehicles in other states outside the Delhi-NCR region, irrespective of how long ago their vehicle's registration expired.

The Minister said, "Our dual focus has always been on citizen welfare and environmental protection. We found that the one-year deadline for NOC was creating an unintended logjam, leaving lakhs of vehicles stranded in Delhi."

"These vehicles were neither being scrapped nor could they be moved out, leading to potential pollution and congestion. By relaxing the criteria, we are empowering our citizens to make a responsible choice. This decision will systematically phase out a significant number of older vehicles from Delhi's roads, giving a direct boost to our efforts in improving air quality and decongesting our city," he said.

This proactive step, proposed considering numerous public representations and internal reviews, aligns with the department's earlier orders of 2021 and 2022, which were themselves formulated in compliance with the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

It ensures that vehicles deregistered due to age can be legally transferred to regions where they are permitted to ply, effectively removing them from the National Capital's ecosystem.

The government expects this notification to provide a structured and eco-friendly exit route for old vehicles, complementing the national vehicle scrapping policy and reinforcing Delhi's commitment to cleaner air.

- IANS