'Pay for 15 years, drive for just 10': Diesel rule blindsides new car buyers in Delhi

Delhi diesel car owners are waking up to a costly reality—pay for 15 years, drive for just 10. A court-mandated scrappage rule is forcing thousands to junk their vehicles five years early, with no automatic tax refund and few answers from the government.

“Why are we paying road tax for 15 years when diesel cars are scrapped after 10?” asked X user Varun Bahl, capturing growing public outrage. Another user chimed in: “A 15-year-old car in NCR isn’t even 30% used. This rule is ridiculous. Government needs to reconsider.”

The confusion stems from a legal mismatch. By national norms, vehicles in India are registered and taxed for 15 years. But in Delhi, a 2015 order by the National Green Tribunal—later upheld by the Supreme Court—imposed a blanket 10-year ban on diesel vehicles to fight air pollution.

The impact is already being felt. One X user shared, “We bought a diesel Creta last month and just heard about this 10-year scrapping rule today.” 

Like many others, they paid a one-time road tax calculated for 15 years, unaware that the vehicle would be rendered illegal in Delhi after just a decade.

And there’s more: from July 1, 2025, fuel stations in Delhi will be prohibited from selling fuel to diesel vehicles older than 10 years. The move makes using, reselling, or even refueling these cars locally virtually impossible.

What are owners’ options?

You can apply for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to transfer the vehicle to a state where older diesel cars are still allowed. Alternatively, you can scrap the vehicle at a registered facility and apply for a refund of the unused road tax—though the process is manual, paperwork-heavy, and far from transparent.

The core issue is a structural contradiction: national taxation policies haven’t caught up with Delhi’s environment-driven bans. Buyers pay for 15 years of use but lose one-third of their investment to a local rule most weren’t warned about.