No Fuel for Old Vehicles in Delhi Soon: Govt Set to Launch Pollution Crackdown by April-End

New Delhi: The Delhi government geared up to launch a major crackdown on pollution by denying fuel to overage vehicles, with the new policy expected to be fully implemented by the end of April 2025. Aimed at curbing vehicular emissions, the move would prohibit fuel refilling for diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years at all fuel stations across the national capital.

As part of the initiative, 477 fuel refilling stations in Delhi — including 372 petrol pumps and 105 CNG stations — were already equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to detect the age of vehicles. Only 23 more stations remained to be fitted with the system, which officials said would be completed within 10 to 15 days.

“We have completed device installation at 477 fuel refilling stations and only 23 are left. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa are closely monitoring the process. A full rollout will happen by the end of this month,” said a senior official from the environment department.

The Delhi government had originally planned to implement the policy from April 1, but the deadline was missed due to incomplete installation of the detection devices at some locations.

“Our aim is to ensure total enforcement. We don’t want a situation where it’s working at some pumps and not at others. Once every station is equipped, we will launch the initiative citywide,” Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had said earlier.

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How the Policy Will Work?

To enforce the ‘no fuel for overage vehicles’ rule, ANPR cameras installed at fuel pumps will scan vehicle number plates to check their registration year and PUC (Pollution Under Control) certificate status. If a vehicle is found to be older than the legal age limit or lacks a valid PUC certificate, the pump attendants will be alerted instantly, and fuel will be denied.

The city has a total of 500 fuel refilling stations, and officials confirmed that complete coverage was on track.

Pollution Control Efforts

The decision comes in line with a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that banned the use of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi. It also follows a 2014 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that prohibited the parking of vehicles older than 15 years in public places.

In 2024, the Delhi government also issued guidelines for managing end-of-life vehicles, stating that such vehicles could only be released from impoundment if they were either moved to private premises or re-registered in another state with the required approvals.

Delay to Ensure Full Readiness

Earlier, Minister Sirsa had acknowledged the delay but stressed that it was more important to have complete readiness than a rushed implementation.

“It is better to delay the rollout slightly than to proceed with only partial implementation,” he had said.