Supreme Court Allows Registration of BS-IV Vehicles Amid Covid-19

Supreme Court Allows Registration of BS-IV Vehicles

The Supreme Court has given a big relief to auto companies and customers on Thursday. The court has allowed registration of BS-IV sold before the lockdown in March. This decision will only benefit those vehicles whose information is already uploaded on the government’s vehicle portal. This decision of the Supreme Court will benefit both the auto companies and the customers buying vehicles because the registration of these vehicles was not being done.

The ban was imposed on 31 July

On July 31, the Supreme Court, while hearing the case, said that BS-IV vehicles should not be registered until further orders. Also, the court had expressed displeasure over the sale of a large number of vehicles during the lockdown in March. On Thursday, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that registration of vehicles sold after March 25 would not be allowed during the Covid-19 lockdown. Also, the court said that vehicles which will not be uploaded on the vehicle portal will also not be registered. Justice Mishra said that we cannot approve the registration of vehicles in Delhi-NCR. This decision will not be applicable in Delhi-NCR.

Two and a half million vehicles sold under strict lockdown

According to data submitted by the central government citing the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, between 12 and 31 March 11 lakh BS-IV vehicles have been sold. According to the data, only 2.5 lakh vehicles alone were sold between 29 to 31 March. During this period strict lockdown was in force throughout the country.

Sales of 2.25 lakh vehicles according to FADA

At the same time, according to data presented by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), a total of 2,25,247 vehicles have been sold. Of this, 94,076 vehicles are sold by FADA members, while 1,31,717 vehicles are sold by FADA non-member dealers. The Supreme Court ordered a ban on registration of BS-IV vehicles from 1 April 2020 in 2017 to control pollution.

The court gave partial exemption in March

The Supreme Court had on March 27 allowed 10 per cent BS-IV vehicles to be sold. The court granted this partial exemption to compensate for the time lost during the nationwide lockdown. The court said that these vehicles can be sold within 10 days after the lockdown is over. During the hearing on 24 July, the Ministry of Road Transport gave the information on the vehicles to be uploaded on the vehicle portal after 31 March. The court had said that the vehicles whose information is uploaded on the vehicle portal can only protect them.