The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that radio taxis such as Ola and Uber were misusing their tourist permits to run diesel cabs in the city.
Counsel Aprajita Singh told the bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur that a mutual decision has been taken by the transport authority of the Delhi government and the Centre to limit the issue of all-India tourist permits to only petrol- and CNG-operated vehicles.
She argued that EPCA has decided not to register any new diesel vehicle in the NCR and even such taxis won’t be re-registered after expiry of their five-year permits.
The case will now come up for hearing on Monday.
Highlighting the plight of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar also told the court that the ban on plying of diesel-run taxis in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), will adversely impact the flourishing industry of BPOs which may choose to go out of India. “The government earns a lot of revenue through the operation of BPOs and enforcing the ban on them may drive them out of the country. The BPO industry would be affected as diesel taxis had been used for pick-and-drop facilities of the employees. It will affect the economy,” he said, adding that the Centre is also filing an application on the issue.
However, the bench observed that “why can’t they(BPO companies) hire buses for the pick-and-drop facility”.
The apex court had on May 3 given two days’ time to the Delhi government to file a detailed plan on phasing out diesel taxis from the city after it had moved the court seeking the same.
The AAP government had said in wake of the Supreme Court’s order, around 30,000 diesel taxis have stopped plying in the Capital, which is causing inconvenience to the common people and creating a law and order situation.