Centre proposes more sops for scrapping vehicles with BS-II, older emission standard

New Delhi: With an aim to get rid of high-polluting vehicles, the transport ministry has proposed to double the rebate up to 50 per cent in one-time tax on purchase of new vehicles after scrapping those with BS-II and earlier emission standards.

At present, a discount of 25 per cent in Motor Vehicle tax is provided on purchase of a new vehicle after scrapping old personal vehicles, while the rebate is capped at 15 per cent in case of commercial vehicles.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a draft notification issued on January 24 said up to 50 per cent discount would be applicable for all vehicles, both commercial and personal, that are BS-I compliant or were manufactured before the BS norms were introduced.

According to the draft notification, this discount would be applicable in case BS-II vehicles that fall under medium and heavy private and transport vehicles.

The BS-I carbon emission norm for vehicles became mandatory in 2000, while the BS-II came into effect from 2002.

The transport ministry has launched the Voluntary Vehicle Modernization Program or Vehicle Scrapping Policy to create an ecosystem for phasing out unfit polluting vehicles across the country through a network of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs).

Presently, there are 60-plus RVSFs across 17 states/UTs and 75-plus ATSs across 12 states/Union Territories operational in the country with many more in the pipeline.