SC pushes out diesel taxis out of Delhi, NCR, denies extension
The Supreme Court held a special hearing today to hear several pleas related to its recent rulings to curb pollution in the city.
New Delhi: It is the end of the road for diesel taxis including those run by aggregators like OLA and UBER in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) as the Supreme Court on Saturday refused to extend the April 30 deadline fixed for their conversion into less-polluting CNG mode.
"We can't keep on extending the time. We are not extending it now and not going to make any exceptions. There is technology available, you convert," a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said while rejecting the plea that it would affect livelihood of poor drivers as there is no technology available for conversion of diesel vehicles into CNG ones.
The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi, had on March 31, extended the deadline till today for conversion of all diesel taxis to CNG.
Diwan made a strong and emotional plea for modification of the order saying, "We will not be able to earn our livelihood. Moreover, we have to pay the bank also."
A senior Delhi government official said about 60,000 taxis are registered in Delhi and of them 21,000 run on diesel.
"There is already ban on diesel cabs plying on local routes here. Taxis having all India permit are required to cover around 200 km which is not violation of the existing rules. Taxis having all India permits cannot ply from one point to other point inside Delhi," the official said.