Delhi govt to deregister 15-year-old petrol vehicles soon, time to switch your car now!

New Delhi: If you own a patrol car that’s more than 15 years old then it is the right time to switch your car as the Delhi government will soon be deregistering 15-year-old petrol vehicles in the days to come.

The Delhi government had on Saturday deregistered more than one lakh 10-year-old diesel vehicles, leaving their owners with options of either retrofitting them with electric kits or selling them in other states after getting a no-objection certificate.

A senior Delhi transport department officer has said that petrol vehicles older than 15 years will also be deregistered in the coming days. The number of such old petrol vehicles is estimated to be over 43 lakh, including 32 lakh two-wheelers and 11 lakh cars, he said.

The transport department has warned that if any deregistered 10-year-old diesel vehicle or petrol vehicle older than 15 years is found plying on roads, it will be impounded and sent for scrapping.

What options do you have?

Owners of 10-year-old diesel vehicles have now the option to retrofit them with electric kits or sell them in other states after obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from the transport department, the officials said.

"In compliance of the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) direction, the Delhi government has deregistered 1,01,247 diesel vehicles that completed 10 years on January 1, 2022. Owners of such vehicles can apply online for NOC if they want re-registration in other states," said the officer said.

The deregistered diesel vehicles include around 87,000 cars, and the rest include goods carriers, buses and tractors.

Retrofitting old petrol and diesel vehicles

The transport department has empanelled eight electric kit manufacturers for retrofitting old petrol and diesel vehicles, including two and three-wheelers, that cannot ply on the roads due to the NGT directions.

The department is also in talks with other manufacturers of electric kits and more will be empanelled in the coming days, the officials said. Automobile experts said that retrofitting old diesel and petrol cars and four-wheelers will cost Rs 3-5 lakh depending on battery capacity and range. The retrofitting of two and three-wheelers will cost lesser depending on the type of battery and manufacturers, they said.

The empanelled electric kit of Etrio Automobile can be used for both petrol and diesel four-wheelers. It comprises a 17.3 kW battery with a range of over 106 km. The other empanelled manufacturers are 3EV Industries, Booma Innovative Transport Solutions Renewable, Zero 21 Renewable Energy Solutions, VELEV Motors India Pvt Ltd. 

All these manufacturers have electric kits with different battery capacities for two, three and four-wheeled vehicles, the officials said. The kit for petrol two-wheelers manufactured by Booma comes with a battery capacity of 2.016 kW and a range of 65.86 km. "The cost of an electric kit depends on the range. We are currently providing kits for a selected model of two-wheelers. By March, we will roll out kits for all models of 100 cc to 150 cc motorcycles. The kit costs around Rs 90,000 if a range of 100 km per single charge is desired," said Srikant Shinde, CEO of GoGo A 1 Motors, which is empanelled by the department.

Delhi transport department's advisory

A transport department circular, issued on December 29, said all departments, public sector units and autonomous bodies of the central government and the Delhi government have been advised scrapping or retrofitting deregistered vehicles owned by them.

In another order, the department has relaxed the Aadhaar Card authentication for seeking NOC to transfer deregistered vehicles, in case of foreign nationals like those working in embassies and high commissions and MNC workers, and Indian citizens living abroad.

The NOC issued by the department will not be for the places which are identified by states as restricted areas for reregistration. The NGT had directed the states to identify areas where the dispersion of the air is higher and vehicular density is least.