With a view to curbing pollution caused by vehicular emissions, the Centre has framed norms making it mandatory for four-wheelers to be fitted with Bharat Stage IV engines in order to be eligible for vehicle registration.
However, a seemingly tacit understanding between car sales companies and Regional Transport Offices across the State is making it easy for four-wheeler owners to flout the norms by registering vehicles with Bharat Stage III engines.
According to a senior official of the Regional Transport Office in north Chennai, the Central government in 2010 had set emission standards whereby new four-wheelers and heavy vehicles registered in 13 cities including Chennai are required to be fitted with Bharat Stage IV engines.
But given that a Bharat Stage IV engine for a basic four-wheeler model could cost up to Rs. 30,000 more than a Stage III engine, it is not surprising that many residents as well as commercial vehicle operators resort to purchasing vehicles fitted with Bharat Stage III engines and getting them registered in Regional Transport Offices along the outskirts of the city, in essence nullifying the emission norms set by the government.
Normally, residents of a metro would have to compulsorily register their vehicles at the Regional Transport Office that caters to their locality.
But since registration of vehicles with Bharat Stage III engines is not allowed, the owners are ‘advised’ to register their vehicles in RTOs located in the outskirts of the city. This not only results in a massive loss of revenue in the form of registration tax for the Transport department, but also defeats the purpose of having emission standards, the official added.
A Transport department official pointed out that such vehicles were allowed to be registered using a loophole by providing residential proof through a sworn affidavit. While the RTO lists many documents as residential proof - ration card, passport, address proof issued by post offices and Aadhaar card - producing a sworn affidavit makes a total mockery of the Motor Vehicles Act, he said.
A senior official of the State Transport department, when asked about emission norms being flouted by vehicle owners through a systematic understanding between car sales companies and RTOs, rejected such a scenario as a one-off incident.
However, further inquiries revealed several instances of vehicle owners who are residents of R.A. Puram, Perambur and Royapettah registering vehicles having Bharat stage III engines in RTOs of Meenambakkam, Sholinganallur, Poonamallee and Tambaram.
A Right to Information request made in March 2016 seeking details about the procedure involved in registering such vehicles at these RTOs did not yield any reply.
Officials say this not only leads to loss of revenue but also defeats the purpose of having emission norms
