It is official: Supreme Court directs imposition of Environment Charge on trucks entering Delhi

The Supreme Court has directed the Delhi government to impose Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) on light and heavy duty commercial vehicles entering Delhi. The order to that effect was passed on October 9 though it was published on the website today..A three judge Bench comprising Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and AK Goel accepted the suggestions put forth by Amicus Curiae Harish Salve, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar and Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave (appearing for the State of Delhi)..Accordingly, the following shall be the rate of ECC to be imposed by the Government:.Category 2 (light duty vehicles etc.) and Category 3 (2 axle trucks) Rs. 700/-Category 4 (3 axle trucks) and Category 5 (4 axle trucks and above) Rs.1300/-.The above levy shall be applicable from November 1 and continue till February 29. The court will review the mechanism in the third week of February. The above charge shall not be applicable to (a) Passenger vehicles and ambulances (b) On vehicles carrying essential commodities, that is, food stuffs and oil tankers. The Supreme Court will directly monitor the toll collection since the Delhi Government has been required to furnish accounts of the receipts and the expenditure incurred to EPCA and to this Court each quarter..The Court has also directed the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana to take steps to ensure that commercial traffic having destination other than Delhi use alternative routes..Further, the Delhi government has been directed to issue advertisements to inform commercial traffic of the bypass routes and the information about the imposition of the ECC required to be paid for entry into Delhi. As per the order, the toll collectors will have to put in place Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system at their own cost at nine main entry points in the city