Government Vehicles Older Than 15 Years To Be Scrapped From April 2023

All vehicles owned by central and state governments, including buses owned by transport corporations, that are older than 15 years will have to be scrapped. This begins in April 2023.

The Road Transport Ministry issued a draft notification proposing this fresh timeline amid a lukewarm response from private vehicle owners to the voluntary vehicle scrapping policy.

While the scrapping policy is voluntary for personal and commercial vehicles, it will be mandatory for government agencies, including public sector undertakings (PSUs) and autonomous bodies.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday (25 November) said he has approved the proposed timeline for retiring old government vehicles.

Gadkari has advocated for modernisation of bus fleets run by state government agencies too.

In January 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that the Road Transport Ministry implement the policy for government vehicles from April 2022, as it is a low-hanging fruit since it can be implemented quickly.

However, several states were not on board to extend this scheme to buses run by state transport corporations considering their bad financial health, it is being learnt.

According to sources, the centre has held discussions recently with states for faster implementation of the policy and asked all the states to give the details of their vehicles that have completed 15 years since registration.

They added that though the number of such vehicles may not be huge, government agencies can make a big beginning.

The Road Transport Ministry has also issued an advisory to state governments to phase out old and polluting vehicles.

"If you look at the introduction of electric cars, the government took the lead to go for them and to create a demand for the industry. Similarly, in the case of scrapping of old and polluting vehicles, we have to take the lead,” said a senior government functionary.