The Supreme Court has relaxed its ban on diesel taxis in Delhi-NCR, allowing them to ply till their permits expire. But the bench, led by Chief Justice TS Thakur, said the Delhi government will not register any new diesel taxis, and that registration of all city taxis shall be permitted only if the vehicles operate on dual-fuel (CNG/petrol) or purely CNG or petrol. The bench also underlined that diesel taxis will eventually have to go off the roads.

The ruling was given by the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and comprising of Justice AK Sikri and Justice R Banumathi.

The court order is likely to free up more than 60,000 taxis, which had to go off roads since they had not switched to CNG. Further, the court-mandated stipulation regarding fare compliance with government norms may affect ‘surge pricing’ used by taxi aggregators, which the Delhi government had sought to stop during odd-even phase 2.

The court added that existing AITP taxis will also be allowed in Delhi-NCR for point-to-point services so that BPO firms could use their services. This reprieve was given after IT industry body NASSCOM assured the bench that all its future contracts would ensure services of only non-diesel cabs.