Delhi govt close to finalising policy for release of impounded overage vehicles

At least 50 lakh such vehicles were deregistered between January and October last year.

The Delhi government is close to finalising a policy for the release of overage vehicles impounded by the Transport Department, officials said.

The Transport Department's policy is close to the high court's directions, one official said. "The policy is in line with the Delhi High Court's directions. We plan to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 for two-wheelers and Rs 10,000 for four-wheelers to get the impounded vehicles released," the official added.

"These vehicles were impounded by the enforcement teams for either being parked in a public space or driven on public roads," the official further added.

The government may also provide a window of six to 12 months to people for getting a no-objection certificate from the department to shift their vehicles outside Delhi if they do not want those to get scrapped.

The Transport Department will have to be informed whenever an overage car is being taken for repairs and a lorry or carriage will have to be hired, the official said.

The official also said that under the policy, people will have to give an undertaking that they will not park their vehicles in public spaces or ply those on the roads.

The Delhi government had plans to make the document submission process for overage vehicles completely faceless to ensure transparency, officials had earlier said.

At least 50 lakh such vehicles were deregistered between January and October last year. More than 15,000 such vehicles have been impounded till now, they had said.

The Delhi High Court had asked the city government to frame a policy on dealing with such vehicles when owners are willing to give an assurance that these would not be used in the national capital.

In 2018, the Supreme Court banned diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, in Delhi. It had added that the vehicles plying in violation of the order would be impounded.

A 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal bars vehicles older than 15 years from being parked in public places.