Govt proposes hike in registration of 15-yr-old vehicles from Oct 1

NEW DELHI: From this October, you may have to shell out Rs 5,000 for renewing the registration of your more than 15-year-old car, which is nearly eight times higher than what you pay now.

Similarly, the charges for registration renewal of old bikes would be Rs 1,000 compared to the current fee of Rs 300. Obtaining a fitness renewal certificate for a 15 year plus bus or truck would be Rs 12,500, which is nearly 21 times higher than what is paid now.

The road transport ministry has issued a draft notification proposing this hike, which is part of the overall plan to roll out the vehicle scrappage policy.

According to the proposal, delay in renewing registration of private vehicles would attract Rs 300 to Rs 500 penalty per month while delay in renewal of fitness certificate for commercial vehicles would attract daily penalty of Rs 50.

As the government has started announcing new proposals to phase out old polluting vehicles, questions are being raised whether the government will approach the NGT and Supreme Court to review the ban on 10 and 15 year old diesel and petrol vehicles in Delhi and its adjoining areas.

“If the government is bringing a policy to phase out old polluting vehicles, then it should be uniform for the entire country. Therefore, there is a need for the government to go back to the SC and NGT seeking review of the order,” said consumer activist Anil Sood.

It also remains to be seen whether the government would exempt the old vehicles running on electric and alternate fuel from this proposed hike.

The increase in renewal of registration and fitness certificates is likely to discourage people from keeping their old vehicles. In the case of private vehicles, the owners need to get the RC renewed every five year after 15 years. Similarly, the fitness certificate renewal is mandatory every year once a commercial vehicle attains eight years.

To create adequate facilities for scrapping vehicles that fail to pass the fitness test, the road transport ministry has also come out with a draft norm for setting up of registered vehicle scrapping centres.

According to the proposal, the vehicle owner will be free to take the old vehicle to any scrapping centre in the country and he/ she can transfer the scrapping certificate to anyone to get any incentive for buying a new vehicle. It says the scrapping centre will have to verify the actual ownership of vehicles before accepting them for scrappage. “The scrap value that the company will give to the vehicle owner will be market driven. We will not set any price for this,” said an official.