'Fitness tests must be basis for phase out of vehicles'

NEW DELHI: Automobile manufacturers’ demand to introduce a policy for mandatorily scrapping older vehicles has been met with an opposition from road transport and highways ministry. While Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) had proposed 1996 as the cut off date, which many feel was aimed at pushing sales of new personal vehicles, government agencies have recommended that fitness test results should be the basis for phase out.
Industry body Siam has been pushing for scrapping of vehicles manufactured before 1996, saying this would enable the entry of more eco-friendly vehicles on the road.
The issue was discussed at length at Central Motor Vehicles Rules-Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC) meeting on Thursday. Besides government representatives, even some of the non-government members of the committee did not support Siam's scrappage proposal, sources told TOI. They said while proposing the cut-off date, Siam had cited that pollution and emission norms came into force in India from 1996. Government officials said that this would mean at least 60-70 lakh vehicles, including two-wheelers, would have to be taken off the road.
"Many members felt that as is practiced in developed countries like the US and UK, we must have a robust fitness and maintenance regime to ascertain whether a vehicle is fit to ply. As per current norms, every private vehicle has to undergo a fitness test after first 15 years and thereafter such tests are conducted every fifth year. For commercial vehicles, first test has to be conducted after the first two years and thereafter vehicles have to undergo tests annually," said an official. S P Singh of IFTRT, a transport think tank, said that the push for scrapping vehicles is raised by manufacturers every time their sales are going through a rough patch.