New Delhi: You may now happily take out your 15-year-old car parked in the garage and waiting for an ordeal as the government has lifted the ban on passenger cars older than 15 years, asserting that it will rather go in for stricter fitness regime of vehicles instead.
The view came after the National Green tribunal, in its order on November 26 last year, ordered banning of all passenger vehicles which are older than 15 years.
As published by a report in Economic Times, officials said that the road transport and highways ministry believes that Section 56 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 – which deals with the certificate of fitness of vehicles and allows periodic checks to maintain the fitness of cars and other passenger vehicles - should be implemented vigorously.
Officials also say that the government has plans to make it necessary for all private vehicles to undergo technical checks once in five years.
This duration is expected to get reduced to three years for vehicles that are older than 15 years. This is being seen as a drastic deviation from the current practice of testing new vehicles once in 15 years and 15-years-old once in five years.
An official further added that the ministry does not wish to cap age limit of private vehicles as it believes that ban is only a shortcut method and it is better to follow regular vehicle fitness tests to check whether older vehicles have reached the end of their life.
Although the ministry is in favor of mandating a cut-off age for commercial vehicles, it has decided against such a practice for passenger cars that are much less prone to fatigue and have a more consistent performance over the years.
"Privately owned passenger cars are used in an entirely different way than other class of vehicles. They are regularly serviced and conform to the various standards prescribed in the Motor Vehicles Act. The fitness testing of any vehicle will be enough to prove its road worthiness and also whether it has reached the end of its life," a senior government official said.
