New Delhi: The central government is preparing to impose a green tax on old vehicles in view of pollution. In this episode, Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has approved the proposal to impose a duty of green tax on old vehicles causing pollution. Now, this proposal will be sent to the states for discussion. After receiving the green signal from the states, this tax will be notified. According to the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways, up to 25 percent of the road tax can be charged at the time of renewal of fitness certificate on vehicles older than 8 years.
It has been proposed to impose a green tax on private vehicles as well as transport vehicles. According to the ministry, on applying for vehicle registration after 15 years from private vehicles, the green tax will be charged. At the same time, the less green tax will be collected from public transport vehicles like city buses. A provision has been made to collect higher green tax to control the increasing pollution in the cities. How much tax to levy on vehicles will depend on many parameters. Green tax will be taken based on the fuel and type of the vehicle. Strong hybrid, electric, alternative fuels such as CNG, ethanol, or LPG-powered vehicles will be exempted. Tractors, harvesters, tillers used in agricultural work will also be excluded from this scope.
The amount collected as green tax will be deposited here
The amount recovered from the vehicles as green tax will be deposited in a separate number. This amount will be used to combat pollution. Apart from this, the state will also be able to use this amount to monitor emissions. The introduction of green tax along with pollution control will encourage the general public to buy new vehicles. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved another proposal. There is a provision in this proposal that no registration of vehicles older than 15 years of government departments and PSUs should be done. They will be scraped instead. This proposal will be implemented nationwide from 1 April 2022.
5 percent of such vehicles are the most polluting
States, cities, towns, or villages pollute the most commercial vehicles. According to an estimate, only 5 percent of the total vehicles in the country are commercial vehicles. These 5 percent of the vehicles contribute 65-70 percent of the total vehicle pollution. Of these, vehicles made before 2000 are just 1 percent, but they are responsible for causing 15 percent pollution. If compared to modern vehicles, older vehicles emit 10 to 15 times more pollution.
