Delhi government takes U-turn, pauses enforcement of fuel ban on overage vehicles due to...

CM Rekha Gupta led Delhi government on Thursday urged the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to place on hold the enforcement of the fuel ban 'with immediate effect.  Delhi Minister for Environment, Forests, and Wildlife, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, wrote a letter, that soon after the implementation of the direction, which came into effect on July 1, 2025, it was revealed that "certain issues" needed to be addressed before they could be fully implemented.  The fuel ban was implemented by the Delhi government, that mandates the petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years in Delhi. 

Pause on Fuel ban

The Minister said because of "several critical operational and infrastructural challenges", it will not be feasible to implement it at this juncture. He argued that immediate implementation may be "premature and potentially counterproductive."

"A stage-wise implementation that begins only in Delhi will not serve its intended purpose. It is highly likely to lead to vehicle owners procuring fuel from adjacent districts like Gurugram, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad, thereby circumventing the ban and potentially fostering an illegal cross-border market for fuel, which would further exacerbate the problem," the Minister's letter read.

"ANPR system is not implemented in the neighbouring states, which will again be an issue in the effective integration of the system with the system of neighbouring states, as and when the same is implemented. So far as our knowledge is concerned, neighbouring districts have not yet started installation of ANPR cameras in the fuel stations," the letter added.

Ban on refueling of old vehicles in Delhi

Under the new Delhi government's policy, petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years are now denied refuelling at fuel stations in the city. "The Government of Delhi is fully aligned with the Commission's objective to phase out older, polluting vehicles and has implemented a comprehensive Air Pollution Mitigation Plan 2025 to this end," the Minister wrote in his letter.

"The GNCTD has been complying with the directions of Hon'ble NGT and Hon'ble Supreme Court regarding implementing a ban on EOL vehicles, deregistering them and ensuring that they do not ply on Delhi roads," the letter read. Many end-of-life vehicles have been denied fuel at fuel stations after being identified by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).

From July 1, all End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles identified through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed at fuel stations across Delhi will not be allowed to refuel, as part of a pollution mitigation initiative. According to the CAQM, these enforcements were to extend to Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, and Sonipat from November 1, while the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR) will implement the restriction from April 1, 2026. 

(with ANI Inputs)