The Indian automobile industry has gone through a transformation in recent times. With the new safety rules and emission rules, a lot of iconic cars have been discontinued from the market. The Supreme Court gave the deadline of 31st March to register all the BS4 vehicles but due to the COVID-19 impact and lockdown, the court gave one-month extension, which will come to an end on 30th April. While there are many BS6 compliant vehicles in the Indian market, the Kerala RTO seem still confused about the norms.
Pilot On Wheels brings one such story from Kerala where an owner of a brand-new Mercedes-Benz GLE cannot register his vehicle. The new Mercedes-Benz GLE, which is a mid-size luxury SUV from the brand was launched in January 2020 powered by two diesel engines and a single petrol engine option. All the engine options are BS6 certified and are supplied with the BS4 and BS6 emission norm certificates.
A person bought the latest Mercedes-Benz GLE in India sometime back and the vehicle was to be registered at the Kothamngalam RTO in Kerala. However, the RTO said that the vehicle cannot be registered as BS6 vehicle. The vehicle is still not registered and the owner is using it with a temporary registration number.
The Kerala RTO said that they do not recognise the vehicle as a BS6 compliant automobile. The owner then gained the Form 20, which shows the Applicable Emission Standards from the manufacturer. The Form 20 clearly provided by the manufacturer clearly mentions that the new GLE is BS4 as well as BS6 compliant. However, the RTO refused to accept it as a BS6 vehicle. The owner has now received a communication from the RTO who have asked them to register the vehicle before April 30 or he would not be able to register the car ever.
Currently registering a vehicle as BS4 or BS6 does not have any clear advantages in India. However, the owner feels that in the long run, it might impact the ownership. It is quite possible that after a few years, the government decides to phase out the old vehicles, they will start with the BS4 compliant vehicles, which may affect this car too. Also, the resale value may get impacted after a few years.
Mercedes-Benz is the first manufacturer to introduce the BS6 vehicle in India. The brand launched the all-new S-Class way back in 2018, which became the first BS6 compliant vehicle in the Indian market. It should be noted that many dealers with the BS4 vehicles in stock have registered them and are selling them as used vehicles. This has been done so that the BS4 vehicles with the dealerships don’t become redundant.
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