Fiscal Deterrents and Atmospheric Quality: The Efficacy of Green Taxation on Ageing Vehicles in Curbing Air Pollution

The author is Shreya Parvathinathan, a Final Year B.A. LL.B. Student from Tamil Nadu National Law University.

Keyword : Green Taxation

Introduction

            Fiscal measures are one of the most common ways used in order to combat climate change and preserve the environment. Green taxation, an example of fiscal measures, has been a tool used in order to lower environmental damage and also raise money.^[1] According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), environmental taxes are levied on products or activities that damage the environment, making the polluters pay for the harm..^[2] In India, this process started when the Clean Energy Cess (later called clean environment cess) was incorporated into the tax policy, where there was tax levied on coal production in order to cut down on carbon emissions and to finance projects on renewable energy.^[3] This operates on the polluters pay principle, where they seek to align the private cost of operating a vehicle with its social and environmental cost .

            The transport sector remains a primary contributor to urban air pollution. The WHO estimates that ambient air pollution causes almost 4.2 million premature deaths globally, with a substantial portion attributable to vehicular emissions.^[4] The internal combustion engine of vehicles, particularly in case of aged vehicles, is a primary vector of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Particulate Matter (PM2.5), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), all of which carry severe health consequences for the urban population.^[5]  Ageing vehicles, especially vehicles older than 10-15 years, often lack the modern catalytic technologies required to meet contemporary emission standards.^[6]

            This article examines the mechanisms through which these taxes influence ageing vehicles and the resulting impact on air quality metrics. The central argument of this paper is that green taxes are an effective way of curbing air pollution, provided they are designed around emission standard compliance, rather than age alone.

The Economics of Air Pollution: Vehicular Basis

            The relationship between the age of vehicles and pollutant emissions has been extensively studied and established in transport science.^[7] As vehicles age, the performance of catalytic converters, exhaust gas recirculation systems and other emission control technology deteriorates. The wear and tear of engines increases hydrocarbon slip and blowby gases, while fuel system degradation increases the incomplete combustion of fuels, generating elevated concentrations of CO and VOCs. As a result, older vehicles emit significantly more regulated pollutants per mile driven than newer counterparts.^[8]

The Disproportionate Emissions of Ageing Vehicles

            This scale of disparity has been studied by the International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT), which analysed remote sensing data from multiple states in the US, and found that pre-1980 vehicles, representing only around 18% of the fleet, accounted for approximately 40% of the hydrocarbon emissions, 40% of carbon monoxide emissions, and 25% of nitrogen oxide emissions from the entire fleet of passenger vehicles on a typical summer day.^[9] More recent data from Colorado showed that by 2018, vehicles 15 years and older, which constituted 27% of the registered fleet, were responsible for 50% of the total Carbon Monoxide mass emissions.^[10] This implication is direct and unavoidable, a small tail of fleet Accounts for a widely disproportionate share of harmful air pollution.

            There have also been studies that state that the deterioration of real-world emissions is directly proportional to the operational age of a vehicle. Studies on diesel passenger cars of comparable engine displacement found that NOx and PM 2.5 emission factors increase substantially with mileage accumulated especially beyond 100,000 kilometres. Low income regions with older average fleet ages displayed emission factors for NOx that were 63% higher, for CO, 73% higher and for VOCs, an extraordinary 104% higher than their wealthier counterparts. This is because the average fleet age in low income areas was 10.8 years while in high income regions, it was 5.9 years.^[11] Hence vehicle age is not merely a proxy      concern, it is a primary driver of spatial inequality in air pollution burden.

            Scholars at UC Berkely and UC San Diego established that a majority of on-road air pollution emissions originate from older vehicles, and that exhaust emission standards, which only constrain the vehicle emissions for around 10-15 years after manufacture, fail to address the long-tail pollution problem.^[12]. Similarly, in India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in their policy documentation accompanying the January 2021 Green Tax proposal noted that commercial vehicles, constituting approximately 5% of the total vehicle fleet, contribute to around 65%-70% of the total vehicular pollution. Within this cohort, vehicles manufactured before 2000 contribute to around 15% of total vehicular pollution while they only constitute around 1% of the total fleet.^[13]

            In 2023, the concentration of PM2.5 in Delhi was 101 μg/m 3/year - over twice that of the national standard of 40 μg/m 3/year and ten times that of the WHO standard. The Global Burden of Disease statistics ascribe 15 percent of all deaths in Delhi in 2023 to air pollution. It is estimated that 12 million vehicles in India are at the end-of life stage with the vehicles producing a disproportionate and constitutionally unacceptable level of toxic gases into the air that 1.4 billion people inhale.^[14]

Environmental Taxation and Vehicle Externalities

            The theoretical foundation for environmental taxation on polluting vehicles rests on the work of economist Arthur Cecil Pigou, whose landmark work in 1920 on the economies of welfare introduced the concept of taxing activities whose private costs to operators do not capture the full social costs imposed on third parties, which is termed as externalities by economists.^[15] The concept behind this is that a rational driver of an old, high emitting vehicle does not bear the costs of respiratory illness, lost productivity and premature deaths caused by pollutants that are released into the atmosphere by vehicle discharges. A Pigouvian tax on such vehicles aims to internalise those external costs, correcting the market distortion and aligning private incentives with social welfare.

            Professors from MIT and the NBER have demonstrated that vehicle emissions externalities are highly heterogeneous. They vary across vehicles, fuel types, locations and operating conditions, which states that the imposition of a uniform tax on a correlated product like fuel functions as a second best approximation.^[16] It was analysed by them that a uniform tax on gasoline addressed less than a third of the deadweight loss associated with local pollution, due to this heterogeneity. Drivers of older vehicles respond more strongly to fuel price changes than drives of clean vehicles, which creates a perverse incentive alignment under a uniform system of fuel tax.

            These findings underscore the importance of directly targeting the externality as closely as possible. An age-linked, emission-standard-differentiated green tax on vehicle re-registration, which raises the cost of maintaining older, high-emitting vehicles on the road  more closely approximates a genuine Pigouvian tax than a uniform fuel levy, precisely because it is calibrated to the emission profile of specific vehicle cohorts rather than to a correlated but imperfect proxy.

The Indian Taxation Framework

            The framework of Green Taxation in India contains three overlapping instruments- Firstly, a framework on “Green Tax” on older vehicles was approved by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 25^th January 2021.^[17]Secondly, the Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (the 'Vehicle Scrappage Policy') was announced in March 2021 and was given regulatory effect through the Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules 2021.^[18] Thirdly, the judiciary has continued to exercise supervisory jurisdiction over end-of-life vehicle policy through the case of the ongoing litigation related to ageing vehicles^[19], and the NGT where the orders have, at times, been more stringent than the executive’s fiscal framework.^[20]

            Road tax on motor vehicles in India is ordinarily a State subject^[21], and the states have enacted their own motor vehicles taxation statutes, such as the      Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958^[22], which was amended in 2010 to introduce environment tax as a defined category. Entry 35 of the Concurrent list also governs vehicle taxation, due to which the Parliament has the authority to enact legislations on those principles. The 2021 Green Tax circular operates within this framework; it is a central government notification approving a framework that the States are expected to adopt and implement through their own taxation authorities. ^[23]

            The principal central legislation in this regard is the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which governs the registration, fitness certification and allied regulation of motor vehicles. The act provides the statutory basis for the fitness certification regime that is the operational trigger for the green tax, in particular, Section 56, which requires a fitness for transport vehicles as a condition of valid registration and the penalty provisions in Section 190.^[24]

Bharat Stage Emission Standards

            India’s Bharat Stage emission standards (BS), modelled on European norms     , were introduced by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.^[25] BS I and BS II were introduced between 2000 and 2005, BS III in 2010, BS IV in 2017, and BS VI in 2020. BS V was skipped in order to fast track alignment with Euro VI standards.^[26] BS VI represented a transformation in the regulatory system, the sulphur content in fuel was reduced from 50 to 10 parts per million, and Diesel Particulate Filters and Selective Catalytic Reduction systems were made mandatory.^[27]

            This framework, for green taxation, provides an objective, legally certified metric of emission performance at the time of manufacture that is recorded in the vehicle’s registration documents and can serve as the basis for differentiated tax treatment. Hence, when compared to a vehicle’s age in years, its BS compliance status is a better and more legally defensible criterion for environmental taxation.

GST, the Compensation Cess, and Interaction with Vehicle Taxation

            The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax under the 101^st Amendment of the Constitution in 2016 did not displace the State power to levy motor vehicles tax under Entry 57 of the State List, since road tax on vehicles is different from GST on the sale of vehicles.^[28] However, the GST framework also introduced a Compensation Cess on luxury and demerit goods, including motor vehicles above specified engine capacities.^[29] This cess operates at the point of sale of new vehicles and functions as a purchase-tax element. The challenge is that these three layers operate without formal coordination or an overarching environmental objective that links them.

The Polluter Pays Principle and Indian Taxation Law

            In India, the polluter pays principle has been adopted as part of environmental law, and states that the cost of remedying pollution must be borne by those who cause it. In the case of Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India (the Bichhri case)^[30] and the Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India^[31], the Supreme Court held that the polluter pays principle is an important part of Indian Environmental Law. This principle provides powerful normative justification for a green tax on ageing vehicles: drivers of older, higher-emitting vehicles impose a pollution burden on the general public, particularly on vulnerable urban communities, and should be required to internalise that cost through a fiscal levy. The green tax is, in this sense, the domestic implementation of the polluter pays principle in the vehicle sector.

            The National Green Tribunal, established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010, provides a specialised forum for enforcement of environmental obligations. The NGT orders on end-of-life vehicles in Delhi, like the case of Vardhaman Kaushik, have highlighted the judiciary’s impatience with inadequate implementation and the structural gap between judicial mandate and administrative reality.

The 2021 Green Tax Framework and Scrappage Policy

            On 25^th January 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways published its framework for a green tax on older vehicles. The key structural features of it are as follows:

1. Transport vehicles older than 8 years are to be charged a green tax at the rate of 10     -25% of the applicable road tax at the time of renewal of the fitness certificate.

2. Personal vehicles are to pay the green tax upon renewal of registration after 15 years.

3. Vehicles registered in cities with high levels of air pollution, Delhi-NCR being the highest, face a higher rate of 50% of road tax, reflecting the externality premium of operating a high emitting vehicle.

4. Vehicles running on CNG, ethanol, LPG, agricultural vehicles, vehicles used for emergency services, and hybrid and electric vehicles are exempted.^[32]

This circular requires that green tax revenue must be maintained in a separate account and used exclusively for tackling air pollution, including financing state of the art emission monitoring infrastructure. This feature carries significance because it responds to the potential challenge that a revenue generating tax on vehicle ownership may be categorised not as an environmental levy but as a general revenue measure, potentially implicating a different constitutional head of power. This shows that the purpose of the levy is corrective, not merely fiscal.

            However, this framework is a policy, rather than a statutory instrument. The implementation of this circular has been uneven, and in several states, the green tax has not yet been formally operationalised through the necessary state level notification. This is because the framework operates through the States’ power to levy road tax under the Seventh Schedule and requires State Level implementation through the State Motor Vehicles Taxation Acts.^[33]

Scrappage Policy

            The Scrappage Policy, introduced by in March 2021, and given regulatory effect through the Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules 2021 (Notification GSR 653(E) dated 23 September 2021), creates a parallel incentive scheme.^[34] Personal vehicles older than 20 years and commercial vehicles older than 15 years must pass a fitness and emissions test at an Automated Testing Station (ATS). If a vehicle fails this test, it is declared as End-of-Life vehicles (ELVs) and must be scrapped at a Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility. For scrapping, the incentives offered are around 4-6% of the ex-showroom price of a new vehicle, road tax concessions of up to 25% for personal vehicles and 15% for commercial vehicles on the new replacement vehicle, waiver of registration fee, and a manufacturer discount of 5%.^[35]

            This policy is complementary to the green tax in its direction, but its operation is different. While green tax raises the cost of continued operation of older vehicles, the policy lowers the cost of existence by providing financial incentives to encourage scrapping. Together, they create a fiscal push-pull dynamic that economic theory, particularly the Pigouvian externality pricing, would predict to be more effective than either instrument alone.^[36]

            However, the implementation of this system is a completely different picture, S&P Global data as of July 2025 shows that only approximately 350,500 vehicles have been scrapped at RVSFs against an estimated 12 million vehicles eligible for scrapping     , which is barely 3% of the eligible fleet.^[37] The government's own target of scrapping more than 500,000 vehicles annually by 2026 is significantly behind schedule.^[38] TERI has also highlighted that the inadequate network of RVSFs, low consumer awareness, distrust of scrap valuations and the absence of a framework for compulsory scrapping are the primary reasons behind this underperformance.^[39]

The Judiciary’s Evolution- From Age Thresholds to Emission Standards

            The most important question to be answered by the Supreme Court with regard to vehicle retirement policy is the case of whether vehicle retirement policy should be age-based or emission-standard-based. In 2015, the NGT gave the decision of Vardaman Kaushik, which imposed an age threshold of 10 years for diesel vehicles and 15 years for petrol vehicles. This was imposed in Delhi-NCR as the criterion for banning end-of-life vehicles from Delhi-NCR.^[40]

            The main challenge to the age-based approach was from that of vehicle owners who owned vehicles that were compliant with BS-IV and BS-VI standards, who argued that their vehicles met the current emission standards and hence the blanked age-based ban is a violation of Article 14’s guarantee of equality under the Constitution, as it made no distinction between an objectively high-emitting pre-BS-III vehicle and a technically compliant BS-VI vehicle that had crossed an arbitrary chronological threshold. In August 2025, the Supreme Court responded to this challenge by granting interim relief to the owners of BS-IV and above vehicles, effectively suspending the age-based ban for standard-compliant vehicles. In December 2025, the court refined this approach and directed that enforcement action proceeds against vehicles below BS-IV standards regardless of their age, while exempting BS-IV and above vehicles from the age-based restriction.^[41]

            This policy, however, is based on scientific evidence, which states that older vehicles  are likely to create more emissions. Research has stated that when corrected vehicle age functions accounting for actual mileage rather than calendar age are applied, NOx and PM emissions decrease by over 20% compared to a constant-mileage assumption.^[42]. There are studies that further confirm that emission factors for NOx, CO, and VOCs are dramatically higher in vehicles manufactured before the Bharat Stage III regime: the introduction of BS III in 2010 and BS IV in 2017 produced step-change reductions in per-vehicle emission factors for regulated pollutants, meaning that the cohort of pre-BS-III vehicles produces pollutants at rates several multiples of what a BS-VI vehicle produces.^[43]

            This evidence pattern is consistent with ICCT remote-sensing data from the United States, which shows that a small cohort of old vehicles, representing a fraction of the registered fleet, accounts for a disproportionate majority of the total pollutant emissions made on road. When we apply this to India, we can see that a green tax calibrated specifically to sub BS-II and BS-IV vehicles, arguably the most polluting cohort, will deliver a substantially greater emission reduction per unit of revenue raised than a uniform age-based levy that treats a 16 year old BS-IV vehicle the same as a pre-BS I vehicle which is also 16 years old.

Challenges to Implementation

            The principal structural weakness of India’ current regime is that it is a policy circular and not a central statute or a rule. Because the power to levy road tax on vehicles primarily vests in the State Legislatures under Entry 57 of the State List, the Central Government's 2021 circular functions as guidance and persuasion rather than as a directly enforceable legal obligation. States that have not enacted the necessary amendments to their Motor Vehicles Taxation Acts or issued the corresponding State-level notifications cannot implement the green tax, irrespective of what the Central circular says. This creates a patchwork of implementation that undermines the uniform national effect that air policy requires. A vehicle registered in a State that has not implemented the green tax faces no fiscal penalty for its age or emission non-compliance, even though it may operate in Delhi-NCR or other high-pollution corridors.

            For this, the solution is in the legislature. The Parliament, exercising its power under Entry 35 of the Concurrent list to fix the “principles on which taxes on vehicles are to be levied”, could enact a Central statute mandating a minimum green tax rate structure linked to Bharat Stage compliance, which States would be required to implement. Since under Article 254, the central legislation would prevail over any inconsistent State tax provision^[44],     this approach would resolve the current federal gap while also ensuring that states retain the power to fix rates above the statutory minimum, allowing progressive States to impose higher green taxes in particularly polluted urban areas.

Enforcement Deficits and the RVSF Network

            The fitness certificate renewal process, which is the operational trigger for the green tax on transport vehicles, is administered at State level through the network of RTOs (Regional Transport Offices) and Automated Testing Stations. The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 requires that transport vehicles carry a valid fitness certificate as a condition of valid registration^[45], and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 enhanced the penalty structure for non-compliance.^[46]However, this enforcement has historically been uneven. India had an estimated 12 million vehicles eligible for scrapping      as of 2025, but only 350,500 had been processed through the formal RVSF system by July 2025, which is a compliance rate of under 3%.^[47]

            This can be attributed to a large extent to the RVSF network. TERI has found that RVSFs are concentrated in a small number of large cities and are insufficient in number and geographic distribution to service the national fleet of eligible vehicles.^[48] The IEA has noted that the policy provides the framework for a national vehicle phase-out regime but that implementation requires a significantly expanded Automated Testing Station network and more robust database connectivity between ATSs, RTOs, and the VAHAN national vehicle registration database.^[49]

Comparative Evidence: France- The Bonus-Malus as a Template

            France has the most extensively studied and refined example of CO₂-linked vehicle taxation in the world. The bonus-malus (feebate) system, introduced in January 2008, imposes a purchase tax (malus) on vehicles with CO₂ emissions above a defined threshold and provides a rebate (bonus) to purchasers of low-emission vehicles.^[50] The malus is directly and continuously calibrated to the CO₂ emission profile of each new vehicle, penalising high-emitting vehicles and providing financial incentives for lower-emission choices.

            This has been seen to be highly effective, where after the introduction of the system, the average CO₂ emission of new vehicles sold in France fell by 6% in the first year alone, and the downward trend continued steadily.^[51] By 2017, the average new passenger car in France emitted 111 grams of CO₂ per kilometre, compared to a European average of 119 g/km, representing a meaningful comparative advantage achieved in significant part through fiscal design.^[52] France's system has also proved effective at accelerating the electrification of the fleet: the market share of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles increased from virtually zero to approximately 2% between 2012 and 2017, which is well ahead of many comparable economies.

            The International Council on Clean Transportation's decade-long analysis of France's feebate system concluded that the continuous feebate rate function, which provides an uninterrupted incentive to improve vehicle efficiency at any emission level, rather than merely incentivising crossing step-change thresholds, represents best practice in fiscal instrument design for vehicle emissions reduction. France has progressively tightened the system since 2008, lowering the emission threshold triggering the malus from 160 g CO₂/km to 113 g CO₂/km by 2025, and dramatically increasing the maximum malus from €2,600 in 2008 to €70,000 in 2025 for the most polluting vehicles.^[53]

Towards a reformed Legal Framework

            The most important reform needed to India’s green tax framework is to enact a central statute under Entry 35 of the Concurrent list, which establishes a mandatory Bharat Stage-linked minimum green tax structure for all states. Such a statute should prescribe escalating minimum tax rates which is based on the gap between a vehicle's Bharat Stage standard and the current BS-VI standard. For instance, vehicles meeting BS-VI should be exempt; BS-IV and BS-V vehicles should attract a modest levy; BS-III and below should face a substantially higher rate; and pre-BS-I vehicles should face a rate that is so high that it is sufficient to create a genuine incentive for retirement. This structure directly implements the Supreme Court's December 2025 direction by codifying the suggestion made by the Supreme Court.

            The existing framework also has dedicated revenue earmarking, but this needs to be given statutory force. A Central enactment should provide that green tax revenue collected in each State must be maintained in a State Green Transport Fund, with a minimum of 40 percent directed to expanding the Automated Testing Station and RVSF network, 30 percent to public transport and last-mile connectivity investment in identified high-pollution cities, and 30 percent to means-tested transitional subsidies for commercial operators scrapping vehicles below BS-IV. This directly addresses the implementation deficit, the equity concern, and the network adequacy problem simultaneously.

            It is also necessary to mandate periodic emission testing, not merely mechanical fitness certification, which is a mandatory condition of vehicle registration renewal for all vehicles above a defined age threshold. The fitness certificate regime in section 56 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, and the enhanced enforcement provisions of the 2019 amendments^[54], together create a legal framework within which emission measurement can be made a statutory condition of continued registration. 

            Lastly, India’s clean air programme, the principal policy that mandates a 40% reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in 131 cities by 2026, has directed only 4% of its budget to capacity building and monitoring, with 67% going to road dust management^[55]. The ICCT has recommended that anti-NOx policies targeting transport must be restructured around supply-side regulations and EV adoption, noting that Delhi EVs reached only 14 percent of new registrations in October 2025 against a policy target of 25 percent by 2024.^[56] The green tax framework, if reformed as proposed, should be formally incorporated as a fiscal pillar of the NCAP, with State compliance linked to NCAP city funding. This integration would create the accountability mechanism currently absent from the green tax's asymmetric State-level implementation.

Conclusion

            The normative imperative and the legal basis of an effective green tax on ageing vehicles are supplied by India's constitutional      commitment to the right to life under Article 21 where the right to a clean environment is guaranteed, the four decades continuum of directions of the Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v Union of India, the judicially approved principle of polluter pays and the empirical fact of vehicles emissions as the primary cause of air pollution in the cities. The 2021 Green Tax circular and Scrappage Policy are institutional measures in the right direction, but structurally flawed, federally fractured, under-implemented, and programmed to an age-based metric that the Supreme Court itself has in effect in the direction of a Bharat Stage compliance-based measure.

This article states the green tax on ageing vehicles is both constitutionally and empirically justified, but its present form does not achieve its transformative potential due to its lack of an anchoring role to a binding Central statute, to Bharat Stage-calibrated levels of emission standards, to a sufficient RVSF and ATS network, and to integration with the resource allocation of the National Clean Air Programme. All these shortcomings can be addressed under the current constitutional provisions, and the changes to be presented in Part VII are not only legally feasible but can also be implemented in practice.

The costs of not acting are high. No BS-compliance-linked, statutorily-based, federally-integrated green tax regime is not only good environmental policy, but the fulfilment of a constitutional duty which the Supreme Court has been applying, with growing impatience, over four decades.

References 

^[1] Aranya Chatterjee & Arin Chatterjee, Taxation and Climate Action: Evaluating the Role of Green Taxes in India’s Environmental Policy, [2025] 180 taxmann.com 668 (Article)

^[2] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Environmental Taxation: A Guide for Policy Makers (2011).

^[3] The Evolution of the Clean Energy Cess on Coal Production in India Story 8’ (International Institute for Sustainable Development) <https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/stories-g20-india-en.pdf> accessed 16 May 2026

^[4] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, 'Green Tax to be Imposed on Older Vehicles' (Press Information Bureau, 25 January 2021) <https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1692228&reg=3&lang=2> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[5] Claudia Oktaviani and others, 'Factors of Old Vehicles Contributing to Air Pollution in the Urban Environment' (2024) 14(3) International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences <https://kwpublications.com/papers_submitted/9842/factors-of-old-vehicles-contributing-to-air-pollution-in-the-urban-environment.pdf> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[6] Mądziel M, ‘Modeling Exhaust Emissions in Older Vehicles in the Era of New Technologies’ (2024) 17 Energies 4924.

^[7] Claudia Oktaviani and others, 'Factors of Old Vehicles Contributing to Air Pollution in the Urban Environment' (2024) 14(3) International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences <https://kwpublications.com/papers_submitted/9842/factors-of-old-vehicles-contributing-to-air-pollution-in-the-urban-environment.pdf> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Anna Alberini and David Edelstein, 'Will Speeding the Retirement of Old Cars Improve Air Quality?' (Resources for the Future, 1995) <https://www.resources.org/archives/will-speeding-the-retirement-of-old-cars-improve-air-quality/> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[10] ICCT, 'Emissions Distributions by Vehicle Age' (ICCT Case Study, October 2020) <https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/US-TRUE-emissions-distribution-oct2020.pdf> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[11] Maciej Mikulski and others, 'Impact of Vehicle Aging and Mileage on Air Pollution Emissions' (2025) 18(4) Energies 939 <https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/4/939> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[12] Joseph Shapiro and Mark Jacobsen, 'Are Vehicle Air Pollution Standards Effective, Efficient, and Equitable?' (Klein-Wharton Energy Policy Center, 2022) <https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/blog/are-vehicle-air-pollution-standards-effective-efficient-and-equitable/> accessed 27 April 2026; Joseph Shapiro and Mark Jacobsen, 'Regulating Untaxable Externalities: Are Vehicle Air Pollution Standards Effective and Efficient?' (NBER Working Paper No 30702, 2022) <https://www.nber.org/papers/w30702> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[13] Dipak K Dash / TNN / Updated: Jan 26 2021, ‘Govt Proposes “green Tax” for 15-Year-Old Petrol, Diesel Vehicles: India News - Times of India’ (The Times of India, 25 January 2021) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/polluters-pay-states-may-impose-green-tax-on-older-vehicles/articleshow/80453121.cms> accessed 16 May 2026.

^[14] Singh AK, Pathak AK and Saini G, ‘Respiratory Deposition of Particulate Matter in Delhi: A Five-Year Assessment of Exposure Patterns and Health Risks’ (2025) 15 Scientific Reports.

^[15] Arthur Cecil Pigou, The Economics of Welfare (Macmillan 1920).

^[16] Christopher R Knittel and Ryan Sandler, 'The Welfare Impact of Second-Best Uniform-Pigouvian Taxation: Evidence from Transportation' (2018) 10(4) American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 211 <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20160508> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[17] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, 'Green Tax to be Imposed on Older Vehicles' (Press Information Bureau, 25 January 2021) <https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1692228&reg=3&lang=2> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[18] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, 'Vehicle Scrappage Policy — Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernization Programme' (Press Information Bureau, 18 March 2021, Lok Sabha Statement by Shri Nitin Gadkari) <https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1705811> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[19] M.C Mehta v. Union of India, Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s).13029/1985.

^[20] M.C. Mehta v Union of India, Vardaman Kaushik v Union of India.

^[21] Constitution of India, 1950, Entry 57, List II, Seventh Schedule.

^[22] The Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958, Bombay Act No. LXV of 1958.

^[23] Constitution of India 1950, Seventh Schedule, List III (Concurrent List), Entry 35: 'Mechanically propelled vehicles including the principles on which taxes on such vehicles are to be levied.' The interaction between List II Entry 57 and List III Entry 35 means that while the States may levy vehicle taxes, the Union may by law fix the principles of such taxation under art 246(2).

^[24] Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (Act 59 of 1988), ss 40–56 (registration), s 56 (certificate of fitness), s 190 (offences).

^[25] Environment (Protection) Act 1986, s 3(1); Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981.

^[26] Bharat Stage emission norms: BS I (2000); BS II (2003–2005); BS III (2010); BS IV (2017); BS V skipped; BS VI (April 2020). BS VI reduced diesel NOx by 70% and petrol NOx by 25% compared to BS IV. See 'Understanding BS Emission Norms in India: From BS1 to BS6' (OLX Blog, August 2024) <https://www.olx.in/blog/expert-advice/understanding-bs-emission-norms-india-bs1-bs6/> accessed 28 April 2026; BS VI replaces 50 ppm sulphur (BS IV) with 10 ppm.

^[27] Bharat Stage Emission Standards: BS I–BS II introduced 2000–2005; BS III introduced 2010; BS IV extended nationally 2017; BS VI introduced from 1 April 2020. See Bharat Stage Emission Standards (Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_stage_emission_standards> accessed 28 April 2026; Central Pollution Control Board, 'Vehicular Pollution' <https://cpcb.nic.in> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[28] Constitution of India, 1950, Article 246A.

^[29] Goods and Services Tax was introduced under the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act 2016, inserting art 246A. Compensation cess on luxury and demerit goods including automobiles levied under the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act 2017. The GST Council, constituted under art 279A, recommends rates including the compensation cess applicable to motor vehicles.

^[30] Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, 1996 AIR 1446.

^[31] Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India (1996) 5 SCC 647. See also Virender Gaur v State of Haryana (1995) 2 SCC 577.

^[32] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (n 6); SKV Law Offices, 'Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Introduces Green Tax' (9 February 2021) <https://skvlawoffices.com/ministry-of-road-transport-and-highways-introduces-green-tax/> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[33] Mariinox T, ‘Green Tax on Vehicles | New Rules and Updates 2026’ (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 4 April 2026) <https://mariinox.com/blogs/green-tax-on-vehicles-updates-you-must-know> accessed 16 May 2026.

^[34] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (n 6). The 2021 Green Tax framework: transport vehicles older than 8 years: 10–25% of road tax; personal vehicles after 15 years: paid at registration renewal; heavily polluted cities (eg Delhi-NCR): 50% of road tax; hybrids, EVs, CNG, ethanol, LPG vehicles: exempt; agricultural vehicles: exempt; public transport: lower rates.

^[35] Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules 2021, Government of India Notification GSR 653(E) dated 23 September 2021; GSR Notification 714(E) dated 4 October 2021.

^[36] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (n 6): road tax concessions of up to 25% for personal vehicles and 15% for commercial vehicles against a Certificate of Deposit under GSR 720(E) dated 5 October 2021 (n 8); registration fee waiver under GSR 714(E) dated 4 October 2021 (n 8).

^[37] S&P Global, 'India's Vehicle Scrappage Policy: Key Insights for 2025' (S&P Global, September 2025) <https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/09/india-vehicle-scrappage-policy-insights> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[38] Ibid.

^[39] TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), 'Vehicle Scrappage Policy India' (TERI Policy Brief, 2022) <https://www.teriin.org/policy-brief/vehicle-scrappage-policy-india> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[40] OA No. 21/2014, Delhi.

^[41] 'Supreme Court Allows Ban of 10-Year-Old Diesel & 15-Year-Old Petrol Vehicles Below BS-IV in Delhi NCR' LiveLaw (22 December 2025) <https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-allows-ban-of-10-year-old-diesel-15-year-old-petrol-vehicles-below-bs-iv-in-delhi-ncr-513646> accessed 28 April 2026; 'Supreme Court Orders No Action Against Owners of Diesel Cars Over 10 Years [BS-IV and Above]' The Logical Indian (12 August 2025) <https://thelogicalindian.com> accessed 28 April 2026; 'Clarity or Confusion? Navigating the Dual Regime of Delhi's End-of-Life Vehicle Guidelines' SCC Online Blog (30 March 2026) <https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/03/30/delhi-end-of-life-vehicle-guidelines-dual-regime-analysis/> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[42] Mikulski and others (n 24).

^[43] Maciej Mikulski and others, 'Impact of Vehicle Aging and Mileage on Air Pollution Emissions' (2025) 18(4) Energies 939 <https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/4/939> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[44] Constitution of India, 1950, Article 254.

^[45] Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 32 of 2019): enhanced penalties; s 194D (overloading); s 179 (failure to comply with directions of authority); significantly increased fine structure throughout. See also Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (n 9), Ch VIII (control of traffic and environment).

^[46] Motor Vehicles Act 1988 s 56.

^[47] Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 32 of 2019): enhanced penalties; s 194D (overloading); s 179. See also Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (n 9), Ch VIII (control of traffic and environment).

^[48] Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules 2021 (n 8); International Energy Agency, 'Vehicle Scrappage Policy — India' <https://www.iea.org/policies/16909-vehicle-scrappage-policy> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[49] Ibid

^[50] Yang Z, 'Practical Lessons in Vehicle Efficiency Policy: The 10-Year Evolution of France's CO2-Based Bonus-Malus (Feebate) System' (ICCT, 2018) <https://theicct.org/practical-lessons-in-vehicle-efficiency-policy-the-10-year-evolution-of-frances-co2-based-bonus-malus-feebate-system/> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[51] World Bank, 'Taxing Vehicles: A Policy Tool for Reducing Emissions' (World Bank, 2021) <https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/863581636144031861/pdf/Taxing-Vehicles.pdf> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[52] Ibid.

^[53] Service-Public.fr, 'Automobile Malus Fee Increases as of March 1, 2025' (Service Public, 23 February 2025) <https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/actualites/A17079?lang=en> accessed 27 April 2026; eCarsTrade, 'Vehicle CO2 Emissions Tax in France — Malus Tax 2025' <https://ecarstrade.com/blog/increase-of-automotive-taxes-in-france> accessed 27 April 2026.

^[54] Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (n 9), s 56, Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 32 of 2019): enhanced penalties; s 194D (overloading); s 179 (failure to comply with directions of authority); significantly increased fine structure throughout. See also Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (n 9), Ch VIII (control of traffic and environment)..

^[55] National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India (launched January 2019); target: 40% reduction in PM10/PM2.5 concentrations from 2017–18 baseline by 2026 in 131 cities. See ORF, 'Addressing New Delhi's Toxic Air Quality: A Public Health Emergency' (Observer Research Foundation, January 2026) <https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/addressing-new-delhi-s-toxic-air-quality-a-public-health-emergency> accessed 28 April 2026.

^[56] ICCT, 'From Delhi's Winter Smog to Year-Round NOx' (n 17): Delhi EVs reached 11% of new registrations in 2024 and approximately 14% by October 2025, against a policy target of 25% by 2024.