EPCA wants only BS VI vehicles from April, 2020

The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Friday told the Supreme Court that only BS-VI emission standards compliant vehicles should be allowed to be sold from April 1, 2020.

The EPCA also told the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta that a tax be imposed to disincentivise the sale of all diesel vehicles.

The apex court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority has called it equalisation tax.

The EPCA said this to the court which is hearing a batch of petitions seeking to control air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The court gave the Centre and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) three weeks' time to respond to the EPCA recommendations as it fixed next hearing on May 1.

The Centre had earlier told the court that it would skip the BS-V emission norms and move directly to BS-VI from 2020. At present only the BS-IV compliant fuel is available across the country.

Besides, the court gave the government three more weeks to decide on stopping the use of petcoke and furnace oil in the National Capital Region.

The recommendation by the EPCA to move to BS-VI emission norm vehicles comes on the heels of the apex court's order banning the sale of non-BS IV emission standards compliant vehicles across the country from April 1 this year.

--IANS

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