Supreme Court Green Panel Recommends Sale Of Only BS-VI Vehicles From April 2020

A Supreme Court-appointed environment panel recommended on Friday that only vehicles compliant with Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms should be allowed to be sold from April 1, 2020.

The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) told the court during a hearing that the deadline for BS-VI implementation will apply to sale and not manufacture of vehicles. The EPCA and automakers were engaged in a similar debate last month over the deadline for ban on BS-III vehicles.

The panel also sought a tax on diesel vehicles to disincentivise sales.

Also read: Supreme Court Bans Sale Of BS-III Vehicles From April 1

A two-judge bench of Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta was hearing a batch of petitions on controlling air pollution in the National Capital Region. The next hearing has been scheduled for May 1.

On March 30, the Supreme Court had banned sale of vehicles compliant with BS-III emission norms beyond March 31, rejecting a plea by automakers to allow sales of these vehicles as they were saddled with an inventory of nearly eight lakh such two-wheelers, trucks and cars.

In its final order, the apex court had said that automobile companies were aware of the deadline and public health is more important than the sale of existing inventory. It, however, allowed registration of BS-III vehicles bought before April 1.

In January 2016, the central government said India will leapfrog from BS-IV emission norms, currently in force, to the BS-VI norms by 2020.

Introduced in the year 2000, the Bharat Stage norms are emission control standards put in place by the government to keep a check on air pollution. Based on the European regulations (Euro norms), these standards set specifications/limits for the release of air pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including vehicles. Typically, the higher the stage, the more stringent the norms.