Bengaluru, NFAPost: India has finally joined the bandwagon of some developed countries by embracing the Vehicle Scrappage policy that was officially released last week. The policy brings stringent measures to de-register and scrap all 15-year old vehicles used by the central government, state governments, municipal corporations, panchayats, commercial and state transport undertakings, as well as public sector undertakings.
Furthermore, the vehicle scrappage policy mandates fitness tests for all commercial goods and passenger vehicles that are aged above 15 years. Any failure to comply with the norms of the fitness tests will lead to its de-registration and consequently all such vehicles will be banned or illegal for use in the country.
The vehicle scrappage policy has attracted mixed reactions from different sections of the society and transport industry. Although a large section of the population initially seemed to be satisfied with the new policy, the trucking industry has vehemently opposed it, saying it will put severe strain on the ailing commercial transport sector amid Covid-19 pandemic.
As IANS reports, industry experts believe the new policy will put a lot of truck driver-owners out of business. M.R. Kumaraswamy, President, State Lorry Owners Federation-Tamil Nadu told IANS:
“The freight rates are not lucrative for them to scrap their old vehicles and go for new vehicles. The EMI (equated monthly instalment) for a new truck will be about Rs 50,000 which will not be affordable by such operators.”
The vehicle scrappage policy will be applicable to all on-road vehicles that have aged above 15 years from their date of registration. As part of central government’s efforts to curb the use of older vehicles, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently released a draft notification announcing the hike in fees for renewal of fitness certificates and undertaking new fitness tests. There has been a steep hike in fitness renewal fees by almost 8 times the original fees that’s applicable for commercial vehicles older than 15 years.
