Delhi to enforce fuel ban on ELVs using high-tech cams from July 1

From July 1, Delhi will stop fueling end-of-life vehicles, using ANPR cameras at stations to enforce the rule and curb emissions before winter.

In a major crackdown on polluting vehicles, Delhi will stop selling fuel to end of life vehicles (ELVs) from July 1 and to enforce this, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have been installed at all 520 fuel stations across the city, linked directly to the central VAHAN database to screen vehicles in real time, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced on Friday.

Virinder Sharma addresses a press conference on Friday on the scanning and checking of registration numbers of vehicles arriving at petrol pumps via the ANPR system. (ANI)

“All pumps are now covered. The trial run has been on since December, and we’re ready to go live,” said Virinder Sharma, technical member of CAQM.

As a vehicle pulls into a fuel station, the ANPR system scans its number plate and instantly checks it against the central VAHAN database for registration details, fuel type, and age. If the vehicle exceeds the permissible limit—10 years for diesel and 15 years for petrol—it is flagged as an ELV.

“Once identified, an announcement will be made at the station, and the staff will inform the driver that fuel cannot be provided,” Sharma said. The rule will initially apply to Delhi from July 1 and to five high-traffic NCR cities—Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, and Sonepat—from November 1. Other NCR cities will follow in phases.

ELV bans were first mandated by the National Green Tribunal in 2015 and reinforced by the Supreme Court in 2018, but full-scale enforcement had lagged.

“For such enforcement we realised that technology-driven realtime intervention was needed, which will now be used. The transport department started installing cameras in December 2024 and simultaneously testing of the system has also been done,” Sharma said.

During the seven-month trial, 36.3 million vehicles were screened, 490,000 ELVs were flagged, and 44,000 impounded. The same system also caught vehicles with expired pollution certificates—over 2.95 million PUCs were renewed during this period.

From July, 100 flying squads will support enforcement. Petrol stations flouting the rules may face action under the Motor Vehicles Act.

However, the petrol pump association has written to the transport department objecting to fuel stations being penalised for violations.

“We are committed to cooperating with the roll-out of the new rules. However, we have concerns about the penal provisions linked to implementation issues, which we believe are unfair. We’ve written to the transport department requesting time for further discussions,” said Nishchal Singhania, president of the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association.

The ban applies to all ELVs—Delhi-registered or not. Delhi alone has 6.2 million ELVs, including 4.1 million two-wheelers. Another 4.4 million are registered across NCR cities. “The aim is to curb toxic emissions before the winter smog season,” Sharma said.

He said in terms of emitting particulate matter (PM), BS4 vehicles have been found to be 4.5 times more polluting and BS3 vehicles are 11 times more polluting than BS6 vehicles. Also, BS3 vehicles cause six times more NOX than BS6 vehicles.

To widen surveillance, ANPR cameras are also being installed at all 126 entry points to Delhi, said transport officials.