BS6 deadline extended by SC, comes with a catch

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) sought modification of the Supreme Court’s October 24, 2018 order that prohibited sale and registration of BS4 compliant vehicles from April 1, 2020 sighting the ongoing pandemic that has caused a lockdown in the country. FADA represents over 26,000 showrooms and dealerships across the country. Consequently, the date for the car manufacturers to sell BS4 vehicles has been extended to April 25. However this ruling by the apex court does come with a catch of its own.

Overview

2020 for car manufacturers had been dominated by car manufacturers selling their BS6 vehicles. The BS6 norms are said to be very stringent and require car and and bike manufacturers to add additional components on their engines so as to meet with the emission norms. The norms have caused a lot of change when it comes to the diesel cars. Diesel engines have to changed drastically to imply with these norms. This has led many manufacturers to axe their diesel engine. Maruti Suzuki, which is the biggest car manufacturer has also gone the petrol route and is further getting out CNG variants of their cars as alternatives.

Even the 1.3 litre diesel engine from Fiat which was used by many manufacturers in different cars has been axed by the company.

BS6 SC ruling

The supreme court has ruled that due to the ongoing pandemic, car automobile manufacturers will be given a sigh of relief and they will be allowed to sell their vehicles from April 15 to April 24. These dates have been given due to the ongoing lockdown period which will go on till April 14. Therefore, they will be given another 10 days to sell their BS4 stock. The biggest catch in the statement is that the companies will only be allowed to sell 10% of their underlying stock.

Also the companies cannot sell any of their BS4 stock in the Delhi NCR region even in the extension period.

BS4 cars unsold

But there are some huge estimations about automobile manufacturers that have some unsold inventory left with them. There are about seven lakh vehicles that include four wheelers, two wheelers and commercial vehicles that are unsold. The total estimated worth of these vehicles is said to be 6,400 crore. This will be a huge loss for the automobile industry. Most manufacturers are expected to export these vehicles to countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where they would still meet with the emission norms.

You can check out our video on how to sanitise your car below.