In compliance with the National Green Tribunal's directions, the Delhi government will deregister all diesel vehicles which will complete 10 years on January 1, 2022, and issue no objection certificate (NOC) so that they can be re-registered in other places.

However, no NOC will be issued for diesel vehicles, which have completed 15 years or more on the date of applying for it, according to an order issued earlier this week by the Delhi transport department.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued directions relating to restrictions on registration and plying of diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and petrol vehicles more than 15 years old in the Delhi- NCR (National Capital Region). In an order in July 2016, the tribunal said that its direction for deregistration of diesel vehicles, which are more than 10 years old, will be complied with effectively and without default. The deregistration of diesel vehicles, which are 15 years old, was to be taken up in the first instance. The transport department order said that ''accordingly, the department will deregister all such diesel vehicles in Delhi on January 1, 2022, which have completed or would be completing 10 years on that date''. The department has been deregistering vehicles that have completed their lifespan.

NOC for diesel vehicles, which are 10 years old, and petrol vehicles, which are 15 years old, can be issued for any place in the country, it said. This will be, however, subject to condition that NOC will not be issued for the places which are identified by states as restricted area for re-registration, the order said. The NGT had directed states to identify areas where the dispersion of air is higher and vehicular density is less. The transport department order said that owners will also have the option to convert their 10-year-old diesel or 15-year-old petrol vehicles to electric ones if they want to continue using them.

They will have to retrofit such vehicles with empanelled electric kits through agencies approved by the department. The empanelment process for electric kits is under process. In all other cases, the only recourse would be to scrap vehicles which are more than 10 years old (diesel) and 15 years old (petrol).

Transport department and traffic police teams are impounding such vehicles and sending them for scrapping by authorised vendors.