Delhi’s Fuel Ban For End-of-Life Vehicles Deferred To November Amid Public Outrage

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has announced that Delhi’s ban on refuelling end-of-life (EOL) vehicles will now take effect on 1 November, instead of the previously scheduled date of 1 July.

This decision aligns Delhi’s implementation with that of five high-traffic districts in the National Capital Region (NCR): Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, and Sonipat.

Initially, only these NCR districts were set to enforce the ban from November, while Delhi was to begin in July.

However, concerns arose that vehicle owners would simply refuel across the border, undermining the policy’s effectiveness.

As a result, authorities decided on a uniform start date.

For the remainder of the NCR, the fuel ban for EOL vehicles will be enforced from 1 April 2026.

CAQM amended its previous order following significant public outcry and political intervention.

Delhi’s Environment Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, wrote to CAQM on 3 July requesting a delay, citing operational hurdles, particularly around the installation and functionality of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras intended to identify banned vehicles at fuel stations.

“All EOL vehicles identified through the ANPR camera system or other such systems installed at the fuel pump stations shall be denied fuelling with effect from Nov 1 in Delhi and five high-vehicle density districts… and from April 1, 2026, in the rest of NCR,” CAQM stated in the press release.

Transport departments have been instructed to ensure ANPR systems are fully operational and staff are trained accordingly. Regular updates on progress in scrapping EOL vehicles will also be required.

EOL vehicles are defined as petrol cars over 15 years old and diesel vehicles older than 10 years.

The move stems from court rulings, including a 2018 Supreme Court verdict upholding the National Green Tribunal’s earlier bans to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR.

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