The Supreme Court has banned the registration of new diesel-guzzling luxury cars and SUVs with an engine capacity of over 2000 cc until March 31. The decision effectively stops the sale of popular vehicles such as Toyota’s Innova, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio, the Tata Safari and Sumo, and Mitsubishi Pajero during the ban period, but existing diesel cars can continue to ply. It also hurts luxury car-makers across the board as most of their best-sellers are diesel-driven.

Source : Times

The Apex court has also said that it would consider a plea for new registrations when Euro-4 diesel engines with improved emission standards are introduced in A

pril next year. It added that buyers of diesel vehicles should pay environment compensation charge while getting their cars registered.

Points to Note

• Delhi has 8.5 million vehicles — up 97% from 2000 — and adds 1,400 new cars to its streets every day, contributing to a hazardous blanket of smog that intensifies during the winter months, triggering a slew of respiratory and life-threatening diseases.
• The SC bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur also banned the entry of trucks registered before 2005 into the city and hiked up by 100% the Green cess levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi.
• Any commercial vehicle not bound for Delhi will no longer be allowed to enter the city through entry points at National Highway 1 and 8 while all taxis and cab services — Ola, Uber or otherwise — will have to shift to CNG by March 31.