'Stupid rule, scrapping by age is brainless': Massive anger over Delhi's fuel ban for older vehicles

As Delhi began enforcing its ban on supplying fuel to older vehicles, the policy has triggered strong criticism from public figures, experts, and vehicle owners who argue that the rule ignores actual pollution levels and operational condition. 

Sushant Sareen, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), in a post on Wednesday, called it "the single most stupid rule". "Scrap a polluting vehicle even if it's 1 year old; allow a non-polluting vehicle even if it's 20 years old," he wrote on X. "Enforce pollution norms strictly. But scrapping vehicles just on age of vehicle is a brainless thing to do. Since it's NGC dictated no one wants to challenge this foolishness."

Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Bagai said it must be the maintenance and performance of any vehicle. "Not merely the age of car. The newer cars run very well on good maintenance upto 14-15 years or more. Check the PUC. NOT THE AGE OF CARS."

However, reacting to Sareen's remark, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, former executive director at a US multinational, said, "Expected better from you considering you fancy yourself as a think tanker etc. If policy has to be personalised, be ready for rent-seeking and extortion every other day. Extremely hard to implement. No option but to use a good hammer. Think about it!!"

Noted psephologist Yashwant Deshmukh shared a personal account of being forced to discard a well-maintained car. "I was forced to sell my perfectly running Fortuner, which did not even run 1 lakh km in 10 long years. I was so damn frustrated. Taka set bhaji, taka set khaja...This is the dumbest rule possible.”

The ban — implemented from 6 am on Tuesday — is being enforced across Delhi at nearly 350 petrol pumps equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. These systems are designed to flag vehicles older than 15 years for petrol and 10 years for diesel.

“We are here from 6 am to ensure that no old vehicle is allowed to refuel. Petrol pumps have been directed to deny fuel to such vehicles,” said Sub-Inspector Dharamveer of the Transport Enforcement team. He added that AI-powered cameras and hooter systems instantly detect such vehicles and alert authorities.

“The cameras will inform automatically, but our teams are also checking vehicles using our central database. The drive is being carried out jointly with local police and transport officials to ensure full compliance and to maintain law and order,” said Assistant Sub-Inspector Jagan Lal of the Delhi Traffic Police.

Petrol pump staff have also been instructed to cooperate fully. “We have been instructed not to fill fuel in any old vehicle. The moment such a vehicle is detected by the camera or by us, we alert the police or enforcement team immediately,” said Hriday Ram, a staff member at the Dhingra pump in Chirag Delhi.

The move follows a 2018 Supreme Court judgment that banned diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi, as well as a 2014 National Green Tribunal order prohibiting public parking of vehicles over 15 years old. The Delhi government says the action is aimed at curbing air pollution in the capital.

(With inputs from PTI)