New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has doubled the registration renewal fees for motor vehicles that are more than 20 years old, in a move aimed at discouraging people from keeping ageing vehicles on the road.
According to the latest notification, the renewal fee for light motor vehicles (LMVs) older than 20 years has been increased to ₹10,000, up from the earlier ₹5,000. For motorcycles, the cost has doubled from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000, while for three-wheelers and quadricycles, the renewal fee has gone up from ₹3,500 to ₹5,000.
The notification further states that imported vehicles will attract significantly higher charges. Owners of imported two- and three-wheelers over 20 years old will now have to pay ₹20,000 for renewal, whereas imported four-wheelers and above will be charged ₹80,000.
The draft amendment for this hike was issued in February this year and has now been finalised with effect from August 21.
This is not the first time the ministry has revised renewal fees. Back in October 2021, MoRTH had raised the charges for motorcycles, three-wheelers, and cars to push the adoption of newer and cleaner vehicles.
The move also comes against the backdrop of a recent Supreme Court directive. Earlier this month, the apex court ordered authorities not to take coercive action against owners of diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in the Delhi-NCR region. The order followed a request by the Delhi government, which argued that the implementation of the end-of-life vehicle policy should be based on the actual usage of vehicles rather than just their manufacturing year.
The government believes that higher renewal fees will encourage phasing out of old, polluting vehicles, while simultaneously promoting cleaner mobility options and boosting demand for newer models.
