Bajaj Auto demands no extension of deadline for BS IV norms

Bajaj Auto on Wednesday said all its two- and three-wheelers manufactured from January 2017 are compliant with BS IV norms and demanded no amnesty be granted in meeting the deadline of April 1, 2017.

The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) directed neither the sale nor the registeration of any pre- BS IV vehicle from April 1, 2017.

"As a responsible corporate, we have complied with this directive and had already commenced manufacturing of BS IV complaint vehicles from October 2016. Moreover, with effect from January 2017, all products from all our three plants are BS IV compliant," said automaker's MD Rajiv Bajaj.

"We have thus ensured that all vehicles presented for registration from April 1 onwards will be BS IV compliant," he said, adding that tightening emission norms to meet BS IV standard comes at a substantial cost.

The Central Pollution Control Board had earlier confirmed that BS III compliant vehicles could not be sold or registered anywhere in the country from April 1, 2017. However, some automobile companies have requested that this deadline be extended.

"All those who do not change on time will commercially benefit by selling their products at a lower price in case the amnesty is granted. Therefore, the manufacturers who have followed all directives in letter and spirit will actually end up being penalised," he said.

The automaker also said that the authorities should send strong message by "not giving any amnesty" and if at all any short-term amnesty is given, "it should be accompanied by a sizeable financial penalty on a per vehicle basis on all BS III vehicles registered after April 1, 2017" to discourage this practice in future.

--IANS

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