Tractors and construction equipment vehicles are facing collateral damage from the ban imposed on BS-III vehicles by the Supreme Court. Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in many States are turning down their registrations for being ‘four-wheeler’ although these have different emission norms.
Since the ban came into force on April 1, the RTOs have refused to register an estimated 25,000 tractors and over 1,500 units of construction equipment vehicles in many states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Tamil Nadu.
While tractors follow Bharat Tractor Emission Norms (TREM) IIIA, construction equipment vehicles (CEV) have a different Bharat Stage III norm. These emission norms are different from the Bharat Stage IV that normal automobiles follow in India.
The Supreme Court order had stated that “vehicles whether two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler or commercial vehicles will not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer on and from April 1, 2017” if they are not BS-IV compliant.
“The SC order to ban BS-III vehicles has been misinterpreted by many RTOs, in states like Delhi, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh. This has resulted in new construction equipment vehicles not being registered,” Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association President Anand Sundaresan said.
He said this has happened in peak season for the construction sector, particularly major infrastructure projects as well as construction equipment vehicles industry. “It has affected a variety of people involved in this sector, from daily wage earners working in infrastructure projects to component manufacturers as OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have cut down production. The entire distribution network has also been hit due this,” Sundaresan said.
When asked about how much CEVs have been affected, he said, “Around 30 per cent of monthly sales of 5,000 units of construction equipment vehicles is sold in these States.”
The tractor industry is also facing a similar predicament and is hit even harder by the “misinterpretation” of the Supreme Court order by RTOs.
Tractor manufacturers and industry body Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) declined to comment on record but several industry players admitted they were facing issues with registration of new tractors in these States.
“These RTOs are saying that anything which has got four wheels will not be registered unless it is BS-IV compliant but tractors have different emission norms from those regular automobiles,” an industry source said.
As per the industry estimates, in Uttar Pradesh alone around 14,660 tractors were delivered in March and April, while it was 10,000 units in Maharashtra. The same is for Telangana was 4,600, Andhra Pradesh 3,250, Tamil Nadu 2,150 and Assam 1,100 units.
“Farmers who bought new tractors in these States are stuck now and may very well miss the season if the issue isn’t resolved,” the source added.
The tractor manufacturers are likely to approach the Supreme Court seeking clarity on the issue.