After a long hiatus, the Supreme Court has finally lifted the ban on the registration of diesel vehicles above 2,000cc engine capacity in Delhi-NCR. There’s no doubt that this piece of news will allow the affected car manufacturers to heave a sigh of relief, but there’s a catch. As per the apex court, to register diesel cars with 2.0-litre or above engine capacity in Delhi-NCR, a green cess of 1 per cent of the ex-showroom price of the vehicle will have to be deposited. Reportedly, the Supreme Court is also thinking to levy green cess on small capacity diesel vehicles.
The Supreme Court’s decision to lift the diesel ban came right after Mercedes-Benz filed a plea against the order. In its proposal, the German luxury car manufacturer reportedly offered to pay 1 per cent environment cess in order to register diesel cars with 2,000cc or more engine capacity. Commenting on the development, Dr Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “We are very relieved with the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court today. Hope this decision will put all controversy surrounding diesel fuel behind us and we will be able to focus on the more important task of making our vehicles compliant with BS 6 norms by April 2020”.