Fuel Ban for End-of-Life Vehicles Begins in Delhi from Tuesday; Government to Enforce Strict Compliance

Effective July 1, petrol pumps in Delhi will be prohibited from dispensing fuel to end-of life (EoL) vehicles, as directed by the CAQM, and the enforcement plan includes the Transport Department working with the Delhi Police and traffic personnel.

As a significant step to combat vehicle pollution, the authorities are preparing to strictly enforce the directive on Tuesday being directed by the CAQM, and the Transport Department has plotted a comprehensive deployment scheme that involves the Transport Department's personnel, Delhi Police, Traffic Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Also Read: WBJEE Result 2025 Live Updates: How to Check West Bengal JEE Scores at wbjeeb.nic.in

The Transport Department has also finalized its plan for enforcement squads and MCD will also deploy units at the petrol stations. Delhi Police personnel will be dispatched across the total petrol stations numbered from 1 to 100 while the Transport Department will deploy 59 total teams exclusively for petrol stations numbered from 101 to 159.

Each of the 350 identified petrol stations with a traffic police officer will observe and prevent the refuelling of vehicles that have exceeded their life-cycle -- 10 years of diesel vehicles and 15 for petrol vehicles.

"Our traffic personnel will ensure that the vehicle is impounded and a challan is issued to the owner of the ELVs (end-of-life vehicles)," a senior police officer said.

Two additional police personnel will attend each petrol pump to ensure law and order during the enforcement drive.

"Two police personnel will maintain law and order. No one will be allowed to breach law and order during the drive," the officer added.

The CAQM had previously issued this order as part of its duty to improve Delhi's terrible air quality.

The Delhi government also issued (SOP) Standard Operating Procedures on June 17, for operators to enforce the ban on refuelling EoL vehicles. The procedures require all petrol pumps maintain a record of manually or digitally denied fuel transactions involving all such vehicles, according to officials.

As stated in the CAQM order, all EoL vehicles, which include diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years, will not be permitted to refuel in Delhi beginning July 1, regardless of where they were registered.

The SOPs indicate that fuel stations must display signage stating the following "Fuel will not be dispensed to End of Life Vehicles — i.e. 15 years old Petrol and CNG and 10 years old Diesel 01.07.2025."

Also Read: The New Language of Queer Cinema: 3 Indian Shorts Rewriting Representation This Pride

Petrol stations have also been ordered to train their employees on CAQM requirements, compliance procedures for denying fuel to EoL vehicles.

"Maintain a log (manual or digital) of denial transactions to End of Life Vehicles for reporting on a weekly basis to the Transport Department at transport.delhi.gov.in," the SOP states.

The Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC) has been assigned the responsibility of monitoring the operation of the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera systems installed at the fuel stations.

"These systems shall capture and display the registration details of all vehicles entering the fuelling station premises and identify the EoL vehicles in real-time," the SOP further notes.

Fuel stations operators could be liable for penalties under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for non-compliance.

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that diesel vehicles that were over 10 years old, and petrol vehicles that were over 15 years old cannot be driven in Delhi. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had also issued a ruling in 2014 stating that parked vehicles (over 15 years old) are not permitted to park in public places.

Also Read: The New Language of Queer Cinema: 3 Indian Shorts Rewriting Representation This Pride