Amid public backlash over the denial of fuel to end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) across Delhi’s petrol pumps, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Thursday urged the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to put its April 23 directive on hold.
In a letter to the Commission, Sirsa cited several operational and technical challenges that he said made the directive difficult to implement. “It is felt that because of several critical operational and infrastructural challenges,…, it will not be feasible to implement this order at this juncture. In fact, immediate implementation of Direction No. 89 may be premature and potentially counterproductive,” he wrote.
The minister, through his letter expressed the support offered by Delhi Government for meeting the Commission’s objective to phase out older, polluting vehicles by deregistering the ELVs to ensure that they do not ply on Delhi roads.
In his official letter to the CAQM, Sirsa raised concerns over the readiness of the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system installed at fuel stations. He cited technical glitches, improper camera placement, non-functional sensors and speakers, and a lack of integration with neighbouring NCR state databases.
The system also fails to identify vehicles without proper High Security Registration Plates (HSRP). Sirsa warned that enforcing the directive only in Delhi may lead to fuel purchases from nearby districts, including Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, encouraging illegal cross-border trade, and called for a phased, regionally coordinated implementation.
“The daily lives and livelihoods of lakhs of citizens are dependent on these vehicles. The sudden denial of fuel supply has disrupted transportation, trade, and personal mobility, causing significant inconvenience,” read the official statement by the ministry.
On Tuesday this week Delhi’s crackdown on ELVs kicked off, with fuel stations across the city refusing petrol and diesel to vehicles past their legal age. From 6 am, Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at 383 fuel pumps began screening vehicles to flag diesel ones over 10 years old and petrol ones over 15.
Flagged vehicles were seized on the spot, with violations registered against the owners. The vehicle data was shared with enforcement agencies for further action, depending on the nature of the offence. In the case of older diesel vehicles, this typically involves immediate impoundment with fines and transfer to a registered scrapping facility. Owners will be compensated as per the official guidelines.