Delhi-NCR Old Vehicle Phase-Out Roadmap — BS-III Exit Now, BS-IV by 2030

A Hard Timeline for Older Cars in Delhi-NCR

An expert committee set up by the Commission for Air Quality Management to clean up Delhi-NCR's vehicle fleet has shared its interim report, and the timelines are aggressive. It recommends the immediate exit of BS-I, BS-II and BS-III vehicles, with BS-IV vehicles to follow by 2030, BS-VI two-wheelers by 2035 and BS-VI four-wheelers by 2040.

More striking still: from 1 January 2031, the panel says no new internal-combustion private four-wheeler should be allowed to register in the region. That is a direct push toward zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles.

Why Older Vehicles Are the Target

The committee's own data explains the urgency. Delhi-NCR's active and fitness-approved fleet is about 2.2 crore vehicles, of which electric vehicles account for only around 3.6 lakh, or 1.6 percent. Using the latest emission factors from ARAI, BS-I to BS-III vehicles make up roughly 30 percent of the fleet but contribute nearly 74 percent of particulate matter emissions. BS-IV adds about 19 percent more. BS-VI vehicles, by contrast, are over 41 percent of the fleet yet contribute only about 7 percent of PM emissions.

What It Means for Owners

The report also proposes a "right to charge" law, giving EV owners a statutory right to install 3kW, 7kW or 11kW AC chargers at their allotted parking, for owners and tenants alike. Government offices would move to zero-emission vehicles from April 2027, with municipal services following by April 2030. Extra restrictions on older vehicles could also apply from 1 November to 31 January, when pollution peaks.

For the average owner, the practical signal is that BS-IV cars — many still on the road and holding decent resale value — now face a clear end date this decade, and BS-VI vehicles face a longer but real horizon. If you are weighing a replacement, our car valuation tool can help you judge trade-in worth, and our EV running-cost calculator shows what a switch would save. The full fleet picture is tracked on our sales data page.

(Sources: CAQM expert committee interim report as reported by Times of India, 8 October 2026; ARAI emission factors. Images: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.)