Govt considering green charge on old buses, trucks, other goods vehicles that enter core NCR

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NEW DELHI: In a bid to discourage old, polluting trucks, buses and other goods vehicles from entering the Core NCR — the area within the Western and Eastern Peripheral Expressways — govt is considering imposing a new “Green Charge” on such vehicles at 34 entry points to NCR along these ring expressways.The charge would be collected through the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling system, under which vehicles would not be required to stop for payment. TOI has learnt that the levy would be separate from environment compensation charge (ECC) that trucks, buses and goods vehicles pay at Delhi’s borders before entering the national capital.After several rounds of discussions at Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the “Green Contribution Scheme” is being finalised for implementation from Oct-Nov when Delhi and adjoining areas face severe air pollution. The scheme would cover around 5,000 sq km of NCR.People privy to the discussion said the green charge may be around Rs 1,000-1,300 for trucks and buses and Rs 500-650 for light goods vehicles and mini-buses. There are also discussions over whether to levy some charge on diesel-fuelled commercial cars.As per the proposal, overhead gantries would be installed at the identified entry points along the 270-km ring expressway network. The gantries would have high-power cameras that can read vehicle registration numbers and make, and also have advanced readers for FASTag. The green charge would be deducted from the FASTag wallet of the vehicle.Sources said discussions are continuing over the sharing of the fund that would be generated through the green charge between Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and also the mechanism to utilise it.Govt is also pushing to accelerate the rollout of the Parivartan scheme to replace old trucks and buses — BS-I to BS-IV — with vehicles that meet BS-VI emission norms and other cleaner vehicles. Recently, top road transport ministry officials held a marathon meeting with all district collectors to sensitise them about the scheme and convince vehicle owners to avail it. So far, two major automobile companies have signed MoUs to provide discounts for replacement of old trucks and buses in Delhi-NCR.