The recent fuel ban in Delhi on end-of-life vehicles, which came into effect on Tuesday, 1 July 2025, has been widely condemned and criticised by netizens and residents of the state.
People have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the rule, bringing up the economic and social impact this kind of blanket ban would have on the common people. According to the Delhi fuel ban, vehicles that are over 10 years (for diesel) and 15 years (for petrol) will now be denied refuelling at petrol pumps.
The rule will be enforced through the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, installed at several of these gas stations, with violators facing a fine of Rs. 10,000 and getting their vehicle impounded.
What Is The Ban?
The “end of life” (EoL) vehicle policy was enforced by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQ) to combat the extreme pollution levels witnessed in Delhi. This rule has reportedly affected around 62 lakh vehicles and will be applied to even vehicles that have passed a fitness test.
This rule also seems to contradict the road tax that is paid by all registered vehicle owners as per national rules for 15 years. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ official website states that “Tax depends upon the type of vehicle. For non-transport vehicles, the motor vehicle tax is taken at one time, for life (15 years). After 15 years, tax can be paid during the renewal of registration for 5 years.”
However, a 2015 National Green Tribunal order, also upheld by the Supreme Court, placed a 10-year blanket ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi. This was reportedly done to fight the rising air pollution.
However, many citizens have paid road tax for 15 years, thus complicating the situation since diesel vehicles are now illegal in Delhi within just a decade.
This means that buyers would lose at least one-third of the money they paid for the road tax. There is also no workaround for this rule. The only thing residents can do is either get the vehicle to a registered scrapping facility, and get the money from that, or apply for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) so that the vehicle can be transferred to a state that allows older diesel cars.
Getting a car scrapped and especially getting money from it, though, is a very time-consuming and labour-intensive process, where the amount gotten back is hardly the amount one would get if they could resell or just keep it while maintaining it properly.
The rule also came under attention after Delhi resident Varun Vij revealed how he had to sell his luxury SUV car, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz ML350, at a fraction of the cost he bought it for.
He bought the car at a whopping Rs 84 lakh; however, he had to sell it for a mere Rs 2.5 lakh. Vij, speaking to the media, said how “There are so many memories associated with this car,” adding that his family “used to drive seven to eight hours every weekend.”
The car has been a part of our lives for 10 years. Vij spoke about how the car was in perfect condition, having been under consistent maintenance over the years, having only minimal issues like regular servicing and tyre replacements.
The car has also only logged a mileage of about 1.35 lakh kilometres, with Vij saying how “I was hopeful I’d be able to renew it (the vehicle’s registration) somehow. That didn’t happen. No one was even ready to buy it for Rs 2.5 lakh. Finally, I had to sell it out of compulsion. Imagine—Rs 84 lakh reduced to Rs 2.5 lakh. But there was no option. I couldn’t even use it.”
He is not the only one; another Delhi resident was “forced to sell” his Rs 55 lakh diesel Range Rover car at “throwaway prices.”
In an X/Twitter post, Ritesh Gandotra wrote, “My car is in its 8th year, a diesel vehicle, meticulously maintained, with just 74,000 km on the odo. It spent two years parked during Covid and easily has over 2 lakh km of life left. But thanks to the 10-year diesel ban in NCR, I’m now forced to sell it and that too to buyers outside NCR, offering throwaway prices.”
He further added how buying a new car will be even more expensive, writing, “To make it worse, buying a new one comes with 45% GST + cess. This isn’t a green policy. It’s a penalty on responsible ownership and common sense.”
Read More: Here’s Why Nobody Follows Traffic Rules In India
How Are Citizens Reacting?
The citizens, however, are not happy with this new rule at all, believing it to be more of a punishment for good car maintenance.
Many also called out how these types of rules never really benefit the people, because what is a regular person supposed to do, buy a new car every 10 or so years?
One user wrote, “Why should responsible owners who regularly service and maintain their vehicles be penalised simply because of the car’s age,” while another added, “What if I cannot afford a new vehicle?”
Another user commented, “A 15-year-old car in NCR isn’t even 30% used. This rule is ridiculous. Government needs to reconsider.”
X/Twitter user Varun Bahl also posted, questioning, “Why are we paying road tax for 15 years when diesel cars are scrapped after 10?”
One user wrote, “Instead of enforcing a blanket age limit, a fitness or emission test-based model (like in Europe) could better balance the environment and fairness.”
Several users commented about how this being a blanket ban is unjust and arbitrary since it doesn’t make any distinction between vehicles that are well-kept and low-emission and those that are genuinely causing problems.
An average middle class, which makes up most of Delhi’s population, cannot afford to do that. People and families put together their entire life, saving to buy one car, which then gets passed almost like an heirloom to the next generation.
The number of billionaires in India is just a mere 284, and millionaires ranges around 917,000. They still make a very very tiny, and small percentage of the country, standing at a population of around 1.463 billion (or 146.39 crore) in 2025.
Expecting so many people who live on their income and don’t have the luxury to just buy a new car every decade or so is extremely disrespectful to the very citizens.
Some also raised the point that the only one that could see some benefit from this rule is the automobile lobby, which would see an increase in customer base. One user on Instagram even raised the point that these very auto companies could be giving funding to political parties.
One user wrote, “It’s not about pollution, it’s about pushing us to buy new cars and fill the treasury,” refering to the sentiment echoed amongst others on how this is just to boost sales of cars, appease the car companies and the revenue that will be generated for the government from the GST applied to the new car sales.
Another replied to Gandotra’s post, writing, “That’s basically a cartel forcing you to purchase a new vehicle unnecessarily so that they earn more taxes. A very sly but lazy policy to boost tax collection by forced sale of new vehicles.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Firstpost, Financial Express, Hindustan Times
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Fuel Ban, delhi Fuel Ban, delhi Fuel Ban news, Fuel Ban update, delhi Fuel Ban update, delhi Fuel Ban meaning, delhi Fuel Ban reasons
Disclaimer: We do not own the rights or copyrights to any of the images used; these have been sourced from Google. If you require credits or wish for removal, please contact us via email.
