Allow BS-IV vehicle registration till March 31: SIAM in a plea to SC

Auto industry body, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking directions to ensure that sale or registration of BS-IV vehicles are allowed till the cut-off date of March 31, 2020.

This is after some state governments recently issued circulars directing that no applications for registration of BS-IV vehicles be accepted on or after a certain date, which are much ahead of March 31, 2020. The cut-off dates range from February 29, 2020 to March 25, 2020 from state to state, though BS-VI Emission compliance is mandated from April 1, 2020.

“These circulars have put the customers, dealers and vehicle manufacturers in severe discomfort, as each of them is racing against time to exhaust the BS-IV stocks which are with the dealers,” stated Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM.

The Supreme Court has directed that no BS-IV vehicle will be sold or registered from 1st April 2020. This comes at a time when automakers, particularly two-wheeler makers are already finding it tough to liquidate the stock of vehicles with the older emission technology owing to the slowdown in the economy. If anything, the outbreak of Covid-19 that has forced the government to curb travelling and social gathering has impacted sentiments severely.