NGT’s five-member bench orders public sector oil firms to withdraw their old fleet in Delhi-NCR with immediate effect
A day after the Supreme Court banned sale and registration of Bharat Stage (BS) III vehicles, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered public sector oil majors to withdraw their fleet of BS-I and BS-II vehicles off Delhi-NCR roads. A five-member bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, passed the order and said it would apply with immediate effect.
The bench was hearing a clutch of applications filed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, seeking registration of new BS-IV compliant vehicles for transport oil and petroleum products.
During the hearing, the bench sought details of older vehicles of BS-I and BS-II technology. After hearing that thousands of trucks of BS-I and BS-II trucks are plying, the bench ordered, "We direct that all vehicles of these companies, which are working under different contracts in NCR Delhi and the diesel vehicles which are admittedly more than 10 years old and are BS-I and BS-II compliant shall be withdrawn forthwith from the road. They shall not be plied at all in NCR, Delhi." The bench added, "Managing directors of all these companies shall be personally liable for compliance of this order."
The bench also passed specific orders regarding phaseout of BS-III compliant vehicles. "Within two weeks, the managing directors of all the three companies along with representatives of the contractors shall hold a meeting and submit to the Tribunal a complete programme in regard to phasing out of all the diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old and are BS-III compliant," the Tribunal's order said.
According to IOCL's application, in the category of vehicles that are more than 10 years, across India they have 12,866 BSII vehicles and 1,803 BSI vehicles that ply oil and LPG. In the category of vehicles that are less than 10 year old, IOCL has 7849 BSII trucks that carry LPG and oil. HPCL said that the company own 99 diesel vehicles out of which 30 vehicles are BS-II compliant. Across all oil companies, the trucks are largely not owned but plied through contractors.
In December 2016, the NGT had issued notices to oil companies and sought information on diesel vehicles used to transport fuel that are a decade older or more.
Vehicular data for Delhi-NCR
IOCL: The company has 640 vehicles that are more than 10 years old with 622 of them BS-I compliant.
It has 492 BS-II compliant vehicles that are less than 10 years old.
HPCL: Out of 99 vehicles plying in Delhi-NCR, 30 are BS-II compliant and the remaining 69 are BS-III compliant.
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