SC unhappy over lack of standard norms for ambulances

The Supreme Court today expressed unhappiness over the lack of pre-requisite "standard" norms which were recommended by AIIMS for registering vehicles as ambulances and sought the response of the Centre for not notifying them.
"You (Centre) have not notified the prescribed standards for a vehicle to be regarded as an ambulance so that it can be held whether a vehicle conforms to the regulation/standards," a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi said.
"The AIIMS report has to be acted upon so that prescribed norms are there for the registration of vehicles," it said, adding "the report speaks about the size of the vehicle, medical equipments and accessories required in the ambulance."

During the brief hearing, the court said the government has to notify the norms as at present, nobody knows as to what are the "things or specifications" required for a vehicle to be registered as an ambulance.
"The government will have to take a call on this. You cannot sit over it," it said and asked the counsel, appearing for the Centre, to file a response.
The apex court, meanwhile, allowed the plea of Delhi Government that it be allowed to register 110 diesel-run ambulances with engine capacity beyond 2000 CC with the transport authority.

The AAP-led government was seeking modification of the 2015 order of the apex court barring registration of diesel-run vehicles with engine capacity beyond 2000 CC in Delhi and NCR.

Seeking relaxation in registration of ambulances, it also said that earlier too, the court had modified its December 16, 2015 order to address the exigencies faced by different departments and security agencies.
Diesel-run sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and high-end private cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above were prohibited by the apex court from registration in Delhi and the National Capital Region in order to curb the alarming rise in pollution levels.