Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the Centres air quality panel is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday and the Government is hopeful that its letter seeking suspension of the no fuel to overage vehicles scheme will be discussed for the betterment of city residents. Sirsa said the policy needs to be reconsidered after a proper study.  He said the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas has its meeting on Tuesday on the NCR issue and hoped that their letter regarding suspension of the no-fuel ban would be taken up.  We are going to strongly raise the issue and expect that a constructive decision will be taken in Delhis interest, he said, adding that as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has already stated, the Government will explore every possible option, including moving the Supreme Court, if required. Meanwhile, companies dealing in the sale of second-hand cars saw a rise in queries from customers during the first three days of the fuel ban on overage vehicles, with customers from other parts of the country inquiring about getting cars from Delhi at throwaway prices.  The no fuel to end-of-life vehicles came into place on July 1. However, within three days, the Delhi Government urged the Centres air quality panel to immediately suspend the directive and said it will make all-out efforts to resolve issues related to restrictions on the movement of end-of-life vehicles on city roads. However, between July 1 to July 3, when there was uncertainty, companies handled multiple queries from customers looking to dispose of their vehicles.  We observed a 25 per cent increase in leads related to such vehicles based on a three-day comparison around the ban period, said Hanish Yadav, senior vice president and business head, Spinny. Echoing similar views, Amit Malhotra, proprietor of United Cars India in CR Park, said during that time, they received 10 times more queries regarding second-hand cars, especially from South India. We get three to four queries on a daily basis. But in the lead-up to the ban, we were receiving nearly 50 calls on a daily basis. A majority of the callers were from south India, who thought they would be able to buy vehicles at cheaper prices, he added.  Last week, Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) said prices of second-hand cars in the national capital have witnessed a sharp fall in recent days, with traders reporting a decline of 40 to 50 per cent. CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal said the market for overage vehicles in Delhi has been severely affected, with nearly 60 lakh vehicles impacted by the sudden downturn. Goyal, who is also an automobile businessman, claimed that traders are being forced to sell cars at significantly lower prices.  Explaining the rules, Vikram Chopra, founder & CEO, CARS24, said if a diesel vehicle is over 10 years old or a petrol vehicle is over 15 years old, and its fitness certificate has expired, it will be automatically deregistered. The legal option is to scrap it since the registration certificate cannot be transferred. Even if you sell off the vehicles informally, the owner of the vehicle would be held liable if it is involved in an accident, he added. Taking a swipe at the previous government, Sirsa alleged that over 80,000 vehicles were ordered to be scrapped in the past but there is no clarity on where those vehicles went.

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