How Fuel Stations Will Stop Fueling Old Cars And Motorcycles From April 1st: Process Explained

The concerns around Delhi's deteriorating air quality have led to the government rolling out various policies that restrict the use of internal combustion engined (ICE) vehicles in the city and actively promote sustainable mobility. More importantly, the place now has a heightened intolerance towards old vehicles. The Delhi government recently decided to deny fuel to these, in the hope that doing so will make people stop using them. When this decision was announced, many wondered how it would be implemented. The setup process has now begun, and we have details of the same.

'No Fuel' Policy For Old Vehicles: How Could It Be Realised?

The government plans to not supply fuel to vehicles that are over 15 years of age. For this system to be implemented, each vehicle should be assessed when it reaches the fuel station and its age determined, before deciding whether or not to refuel. The new policy will be implemented from April 1, 2025. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems will be used for this.

ANPR systems will consist of cameras and processing units. These cameras will capture the vehicle number plates, and this data will then be processed to determine its age. The data from the government's vahan portal will be used for this. The findings will then be compared to the age limits set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). If found to exceed the set limits, these vehicles will be denied refuelling.

Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa said "To reduce vehicular pollution, devices are being installed at fuel stations throughout the city to identify such vehicles, and these cars will be denied fuel."

It remains to be seen if new cameras need to be installed for effective implementation at all places. Most petrol bunks are already equipped with cameras that scan vehicle number plates to check the validity of their pollution certificates. Reports say that these could be modified to detect and warn against old vehicles.

Either way, the Union Ministry of Petroleum will be actively involved in the implementation process. We will get more details of the move in the upcoming weeks.

Delhi has over 500 fuel stations and ANPR systems are reported to have already been installed at 80% of them.

Initial responses from the dealer side have been in support of the initiative. Delhi Petrol Dealers Association President, Nischal Singhania welcomed it and reiterated that the honourable Supreme Court (SC) had already banned old vehicles from operation in Delhi.

Delhi's Fight Against Vehicular Pollution

Delhi's hostility towards overage vehicles and the pollution they cause, isn't new. The government has deregistered 59+ lakh overage vehicles till September 2025. Two-wheelers make up the larger share of this. Reports say that despite the ban, many such vehicles continue to operate on Delhi roads- a clear violation of the NGT guidelines. In March 2021, a drive to lift overage vehicles was initiated.

Owners of impounded vehicles will have to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) and register them in states outside NCR, to get them released. Else, they'll have to be parked in a private space and not taken to public roads again. Additionally a fine of Rs 10,000 or Rs 5,000 will also be imposed, depending on if it is a car or a two-wheeler. Post-release, if the vehicle is found attempting a violation again, it will be sent to the scrapyard directly.

If the violating vehicle is registered outside of NCR, the owner will have to justify its presence in Delhi. In this case too, repeated violations will result in it ending up at a scrapyard.