Vehicles Sold Before Apr 1, 2019 To Also Have Colour Coded Stickers: SC

SC said its direction to place colour-coded stickers denoting the fuel type would also apply to vehicles purchased before April 1, 2019.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday said its direction to place colour-coded stickers denoting the fuel type would also apply to vehicles purchased before April 1, 2019 and registered in NCR states. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan modified its August 13 2018 order to include all the vehicles sold before April 1, 2019 in the NCR region.

"This order was applicable for all the vehicles in NCR region and implementation was to be made by October 2, 2018 in view of the said order, we modify the August 13, 2018 and direct that as regards vehicles sold before April 1, 2019 the provisions of the said order will apply and in case of vehicles sold on or after April 1, 2019 which are non-compliant with the provisions of the order action under section 192 of the MV Act, 1988 shall be initiated by the governments concerned," the bench said.

Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 states that driving a vehicle without registration is punishable with a fine or imprisonment. The bench said as per its order the hologram-based light blue stickers would be used in vehicles running on petrol and CNG fuel whereas an orange sticker would be placed on diesel-run vehicles.

It said, "As we have modified the order dated August 13, 2018 by directing that in respect of all vehicles registered within NCR states, requirement of said order shall be complied with. We direct the NCR state governments concerned to ensure that even in respect of vehicles registered within NCR states prior to April 1, 2019 provisions of the order are implemented."

The bench ordered to ensure that vehicles registered in NCR states before or after April 1, 2019, complied with the orders and the NCR state governments did not permit transfer of ownership, addition of hypothecation, change of address/hypothecation, duplicate registration, cancellation of hypothecation and permitted fitness related activities without compliance.

"In addition, NCR states shall issue directions that no PUC (pollution certificate) certificates shall be issued to such vehicles unless compliance is made with the said order," it added. The bench said as far as Delhi was concerned there was an affidavit stating dealers were authorised by the original manufacturers to the work on fixation of the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) colour coded stickers.

"We direct NCR states to file an affidavit in one month from today setting out the manner in which they will ensure that every vehicle sold before April 1, 2019 is made compliant with the provisions of the said order," the bench said.

The top court also asked the Centre to call for reports from all the states and UTs with regard to compliance with the orders related to colour-coded stickers and said the report should be compiled and furnished on or before March 17, for necessary directions on March 21.

On January 15, the top court mulled to make hologram-based colour-coded stickers for vehicles mandatory across the country and stressed on the effective implementation of the pollution under control (PUC) certificate norms.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, had said even in the NCR states, all the older vehicles were not provided with the third registration mark and the progress in this regard was very slow.

In 2018, the court accepted a proposal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which envisaged that hologram-based light blue stickers would be used in vehicles using petrol and CNG in the NCR, whereas diesel-run vehicles would have orange stickers. These stickers, which facilitates identifying vehicles based on the fuel used, were also supposed to include the dates of registration of the vehicles.

Following the court's order, the Centre amended Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 and HSRP order of 2001 to give a legal recognition to the scheme of hologram-based stickers. The bench had said it might extend the 2018 direction to other states and Union territories by exercising its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.

The top court had observed its December 13, 2023 direction to strictly enforce the scheme was not complied with. The issue of colour-coded stickers for vehicles cropped up in a matter relating to air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The NCR states include Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The colour-coded sticker scheme was initially suggested by the amicus curiae to enable identification of vehicles and restrict the movement of vehicles using bad-quality fuel during "poor category" pollution days. On August 13, 2018, the top court, in a first, gave its nod to the Centre's proposal of hologram-based colour-coded stickers for vehicles, indicating the nature of fuel they were using.

It had suggested to the MoRTH to consider having green-coloured number plates or green stickers for electric and hybrid vehicles.