Registration Of BS-IV Vehicles Banned By Supreme Court Till Further Notice

On Friday, Supreme Court barred registration of BS-IV vehicles till further orders. The apex court also expressed displeasure on the sale of a large number of vehicles in March despite the COVID-19 induced lockdown. "An unusual number of BS-IV vehicles were sold during the lockdown," said the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

The matter will be heard again on 13 August.

Earlier this month, SC had expressed displeasure over an oral plea by automobile dealers association that dealers should be allowed to return unsold inventory of BS-IV vehicles to the manufacturers so as to export them to other countries.

The counsel appearing for the association told a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that there are some countries where the sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles are allowed.

On 8 July, the top court had recalled its March 27 order by which it had allowed the sale of BS-IV vehicles for 10 days across India, except in Delhi-NCR, after lifting of the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

The top court had on 27 March said it was permitting the sale of 10 percent of unsold BS-IV vehicles to make up for six days lost due to the nationwide lockdown which was imposed on 25 March.

Background

Starting 1 April 2020, the central government has mandated that vehicle makers must manufacture, sell and register only BS-VI (BS6) vehicles only. BS-IV and BS-VI are Bharat stage emission standards (BSES) will help the government regulate the output of air pollutants from compression ignition engines.

As per BS-6 norms, the emission of carbon monoxide is to be reduced by 30% and NOx by 80%.