Diesel Car ban: Second hand car dealers foresee huge business loss but hail the decision

New Delhi, July 19 (KNN) The second hand car dealers in the national capital have said that the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT’s) decision to ban the registration of all diesel vehicles that have crossed ten years would surely impact their businesses. However, keeping in view the rising level of pollution in the city, the dealers have hailed the decision.

On Monday, NGT ordered the Delhi government to cancel registration of all diesel-powered vehicles that have crossed a decade of shelf life from plying in the city.

Talking to KNN, Manish Narula who owns Jai Durga Motors, said that the court has taken the decision looking after the environmental scenario of Delhi and the move will benefit all in future.

“We are not objecting the decision but we know that it is sure to hit our businesses,” said the dealer.

“We have already stopped purchasing diesel cars because the resale value of diesel cars has already gone down massively,” he said.

Malviya Car Bazar owner Rahul Grover hailed the move of NGT saying it’s a good decision to clean the environment of Delhi.

He further elaborated that the demand for diesel cars in small cities is huge and it would benefit the neighbouring states. “Keeping old cars lead to increase in pollution and traffic woes,” he added.

“However this decision would impact our business,” said Grover.

Sumit Sharma, Proprietor, Star Motors, said that the NGT’s decision will impact the businesses of car dealers.

“Government should come up with some policy,” he demanded.

In an ongoing air pollution case, the court directed the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to issue a public notice in this regard. It asked for supply of the list of such vehicles to Delhi Traffic Police and take appropriate action.

Last April, the NGT banned all diesel vehicles older than 10 years.

In 2014, the green court said all - diesel and petrol - vehicles of over 15 years won't be permitted to run on city roads. But despite the orders, older cars continued to ply on Delhi's roads with the city government saying only the regional transport office (RTO) had the authority to ban old vehicles.

This implementation glitch was resolved on Monday with a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar saying, "Even during the 'odd-even' scheme initiated by the Delhi government, the ambient air quality did not improve and in fact, the parameters remained on the higher side more than the permissible limits." (KNN/ AR)