SC upholds ban on non-BS IV vehicles' sales from April 1

The Supreme Court today upheld the decision to ban the sale of non-BSIV-compliant vehicles in India from April 1, 2017, in an effort to curb rising levels of air pollution. The verdict came in reply to pleas seeking an extension to sell BSIII vehicles after April 1 when BS-IV emission norms come into force. The directive affects all segments of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

The apex court observed that the health of people is more important than the commercial interest of automobile companies. "The seminal issue is whether the commercial interests of manufacturers and dealers of such vehicles that do not meet the Bharat Stage-IV emission standards as on 1st April 2017 takes primacy over the health hazard due to increased air pollution of millions of our country men and women. The answer is quite obvious," the Supreme Court judgment read.

Recently, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) filed an application urging the apex court to allow the sale of non-BS IV vehicles in India after March 31. According to reports, the automobile industry has a BS-III vehicle inventory of around 824,000 units comprising over 96,000 commercial vehicles, 670,000 two-wheelers, 40,000 three-wheelers and 16,000 passenger cars.

Today's judgment puts the future of such non-compliant vehicles in a state of flux. Notably, automobile manufacturers told the Supreme Court on Monday, March 27, 2017, that it was not possible to convert the existing stock of BS-III compliant two- and four-wheelers to Bharat Stage-IV emission norms, according to reports.

The Supreme Court observed that manufacturers were fully aware, way back in 2010, that all vehicles would have to convert to BS-IV fuel on and from April 1, 2017, and, therefore, they had more than enough time to stop the production of BS-III vehicles and switch over to manufacturing BS-IV compliant vehicles. Some manufacturers, however, argued that the recent demonetisation move affected their inventory sale and as a result, they were left with higher than expect BS-III inventory on hand.