Transport Department launches fresh crackdown on overage vehicles

The department has asked traffic police to deploy four teams in every municipal zone in coordination with its enforcement wing to impound diesel and petrol-run vehicles that are 10 and 15 years old, respectively.

 Similar action has also been launched against unregistered and unfit e-rickshaws across the city. Total 213 vehicles, including two-wheelers, cars, and e-rickshwas were impounded on Friday, officials said.

 This is the second round of city-wide crackdown on overage vehicles. In March last year, the department launched a drive to impound such vehicles. The drive continued for a few months.

 According to the latest figure, more than 55 lakh overage vehicles have been de-registered so far in the national capital.  An official said that several teams of Delhi Traffic Police, Enforcement Wing of the Transport Department, MCD and other agencies will take action.  The official said the "end of life" vehicles will be impounded and directly sent to the scrapping yard if they are found plying on city roads or parked in public places.

 According to the Transport Department's recent public notice, owners of overage vehicles have three options -- keep such vehicles in a private parking space owned by the individual, not in a shared parking space, obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to move the vehicle out of Delhi within one year of the vehicle's expiry date, or scrap the vehicle through a registered agency.

 As the winter season approaches, when pollution levels typically spike, the drive is also part of a broader strategy to improve air quality and streamline vehicle registration across the capital, an official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said.