The Supreme Court on October 24 said that only vehicles compliant with the Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission standards would be allowed to be sold across the country from 1 April, 2020.
A three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur passed the order.
No BS-IV or BS-VI non-compliant vehicles can be sold after this deadline. The Bharat stage emission standards are instituted by the government to regulate an output of air pollutants from motor vehicles.
The Centre had earlier announced that only BS VI compliant vehicles would be allowed to be registered and sold after 31 March 2020 and the country would skip BS-V norms by 2020.
The apex court also rejected the centre’s request for a three-month extension of the deadline so that car makers can sell their non-BS-VI vehicles.
The move to phase out BS-IV is to emphasize the urgent need to switch to a cleaner fuel to lower the alarming levels of air pollution in the national capital.
Delhi is the first city in the country to take a lead to switch from BS-IV grade petrol and diesel to BS-VI.
