Come September 30, vehicles plying in Delhi-NCR will have colour-coded hologram stickers for their identification on the basis of fuel they use. The initiative by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) received approval of the Supreme Court on Monday. Setting a deadline of September 30, the Bench said the stickers should disclose the date of registration of the vehicle.
light blue sticker will be for vehicles running on CNG and petrol, while orange colour will be displayed on diesel vehicles.
A Bench of Justices Madan B lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta approved the proposal presented to it by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ANS Nadkarni and suggested having green-colour number plate or green stickers for electric and hybrid vehicles.
The move is aimed to curb the use of polluting vehicles by easy identification. By the colour of the sticker, the fuel type will be ascertained while the date of registration will disclose whether the vehicle is fit to be driven on Capital roads.
Amicus curiae Aparajita Singh requested the apex court to implement the policy at the earliest before the onset of winter when pollution levels rise. The Ministry said the colour-coded system can be made applicable across the country.
However, the amicus felt that the same needs to be first rolled out in Delhi-NCR immediately. The counsel appearing for Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt ltd told the bench that the company is already selling hybrid vehicles but they have not been included in the colour-coded system.
The ASG told the Bench that electric vehicles would have green number plates. An affidavit filed by the Ministry said, “In light of the suggestions of the amicus curiae, it is proposed that the colour coding for the third registration plate in the form of ‘self destructive type’ stickers would be incorporated in the proposed amendment of the ‘The Motor Vehicles (New High Security Registration Plates) Order, 2001’ and further that the ‘date of registration’ would also be printed in the sticker.”
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) informed the Court that the Government has notified green number plates for electric vehicles. The bench asked the Ministry to consider green number plates or green stickers for both electric and hybrid vehicles and decide within two weeks. The suggestion for using colour-coded stickers on vehicles was proposed by the amicus following a similar experiment employed in Paris. The issue came up for discussion when the court was discussing ways and means to reduce air pollution in Delhi-NCR.