For 15-yr-old cars, renewal to be 8 times costlier

The road transport and highways ministry has issued a notification for the renewal of the certificate of registration of old vehicles and this new rule is part of the government's overall plan to roll out the National Automobile Scrappage Policy.

According to the notification, renewal of certificate of fitness for a bus or truck older than 15 years will cost nearly eight times higher charges than owners of the commercial vehicles currently pay.

While charges of registration renewal of a 15-year-old car would be Rs 5,000 compared to the current fee of Rs 600, the charges of registration renewal of old bikes would be Rs 1,000 compared to the current fee of Rs 300.

Similarly, a fitness renewal certificate for a 15 year-plus bus or truck would cost Rs 12,500 from the current fee of Rs 1,500; while in the case of medium goods or passenger motor vehicle, it would cost Rs 10,000.

Renewal of registration for imported bikes and cars will cost Rs 10,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively.

According to the notification, these rules may be called the Central Motor Vehicles (23rd Amendment) Rules, 2021, and shall come into force with effect from April 1, 2022.

The notification said an additional fee of Rs 50 for each day of delay after the expiry of certificate of fitness shall be levied.

It also said an additional fee of Rs 200 shall be levied if the certificate of registration is a smart card-type issue.

As per the notification, in case of delay in applying for renewal of certificate of registration, an additional fee of Rs 300 for delay of every month in case of private vehicles and Rs 500 for delay of every month in case of commercial vehicles shall be levied.

Under the the National Automobile Scrappage Policy launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August this year, mandatory fitness testing for heavy commercial vehicles is likely to be in force from April 1, 2023, and the same will be in place in a phased manner for other categories from June 1, 2024.

The fitness norm is not uniform in the country. In the case of Delhi, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has passed an order banning all diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old from plying on the roads.

According to an official statement, in the Vehicle Scrapping Policy, it is proposed to have a system of incentives and disincentives to nudge vehicle owners to discard old and polluting vehicles, which have higher maintenance and fuel consumption costs.

It said that as an incentive, there will be waiver of the fee for issue of the certificate of registration for a new vehicle, purchased against the authority of the certificate of deposit (CoD) issued by a registered vehicle scrapping facility for a vehicle being scrapped.

As regards disincentives, the statement said there will be an increase in the fee for conducting fitness test and renewal of fitness certificate for motor vehicles more than 15 years old.

Besides, there will also be an increase in the renewal of registration fee for personal vehicles (non-transport vehicles) more than 15 years old, the statement said.