NGT asks VW to give undertaking against selling cars with 'defeat device'

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today sought an undertaking from German carmaker Volkswagen that it would not sell any vehicle fitted with a 'defeat device'- which has been at the centre of the worldwide emission scandal-in India, according to reports. It has given the carmaker time till January 11, 2016, to submit the undertaking.

“We do see gravity of the matter. You should not sell cars with defeat device and which are not compliant. Let Volkswagen give an undertaking that it would not sell any vehicle in India fitted with 'cheat device'," reports quoted the National Green Tribunal bench as saying. Moreover,  the Tribunal also asked Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to submit its investigation report by February 4, the next date of hearing.

In December, the Volkswagen Group announced a recall of 3,23,700 cars in India in the wake of the emissions scandal. The recall in India included 1,98,500 cars from Volkswagen, 88,700 cars from Skoda and 36,500 cars from Audi across various models equipped with the EA 189 engines which include the 1.2-litre, 1.5-litre, 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesels, according to a statement issued by the carmaker at that time.

The carmaker, however, had not referred to the emission scandal in its official statement. It claimed that the affected cars are not fitted with ‘defeat device’ or cheat software used to fudge emission tests in the US and Europe. VW described the voluntary recall as a means to keep the EA 189 engines “in line with the latest technical updates” announced for the European market.

The Volkswagen Group is in the process of recalling 11 million cars globally after it was found violating emission norms in September 2015.

More recently, the Department of Justice in the United States filed a court action against Volkswagen, alleging that nearly 600,000 Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen cars had illegal defeat devices enabled. The action opens the way for fines against the carmaker, which could be as high as £61 billion (around Rs 600,000 crore).