Sale and Registration of BS-IV Vehicles Extended Till March 31 in Rajasthan

Sale and registration of all vehicles of BS-IV emission standard can be done in Rajasthan till March 31. After April 1 2020, no vehicle of BS-IV emission standards will be sold and registered in the state, Secretary and Transport Commissioner Ravi Jain said in a statement on Monday. He appealed to the people and all the dealers in the state to complete the purchase, sale and registration of all category vehicles of BS-IV emission standard by March 31.

Last year, the Supreme Court of India ruled that no Bharat Stage IV vehicle will be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. Instead, the Bharat Stage VI (or BS-VI) emission norm would come into force from April 1, 2020, across the country. A three-judge bench ruled that the need of the hour was to move to a cleaner fuel. In 2016, the Centre announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.

The major difference between the existing BS-IV and forthcoming BS-VI norms is the presence of sulphur in the fuel. While the BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, the BS-VI grade fuel only has 10 ppm sulphur content. Also, the harmful NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars can be brought down by nearly 70%. In the petrol cars, they can be reduced by 25%. However, when we talk air pollution, particulate matter like PM 2.5 and PM 10 are the most harmful components and the BS-VI will bring the cancer-causing particulate matter in diesel cars by a phenomenal 80%.

The everyday customer who is yet to buy themselves a vehicle or is planning to get one could soon have to shell out more for their purchase. On top of that, the fuel costs also need to be taken into account. But above all of this, there is a bigger target to be achieved. India has some of the most polluted cities in the world and automobiles are often considered as one of the biggest factors responsible for it.

The need of the hour is to control the pollution levels by all means possible and since globally, countries are implying Euro 6 levels of emission regulations, India needs to step up its game and hence the BS-IV to BS-VI emission norm implication.

(With inputs from PTI)