TL;DR
A fuel ban on End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) for petrol and diesel vehicles has been implemented in Delhi-NCR from November 1, 2025, to combat air pollution.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has announced that the long-anticipated fuel ban on overage vehicles, known as End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), will come into force from November 1, 2025, in Delhi and five adjoining NCR districts. This policy, aimed at curbing vehicular pollution, targets diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, which are no longer legally permitted on the roads in these regions.
The ban will initially apply simultaneously in Delhi and high-density districts including Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Sonipat. The CAQM plans to extend this ban to the entire National Capital Region (NCR) from April 1, 2026. This measure follows severe air pollution episodes, such as the one in November 2024, when Delhi experienced its worst air quality in four years, with AQI levels soaring past 800.
To encourage voluntary scrapping, the government has introduced incentives under the Compliance of End-of-Life Vehicles Rules, 2025. These include a waiver of registration fees for new vehicles purchased after scrapping an ELV, and concessions in motor vehicle tax (up to 25% for private vehicles and 15% for commercial vehicles) upon producing a Certificate of Deposit from an authorized scrapping centre.
