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The Apex Court, on Friday, March 28, 2020, granted automobile companies an extension for clearing their BS-IV inventories, beyond the March 31 deadline. The division bench, chaired by Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta, heard the case via video conferencing.
The decision comes after the Federation of Automobile Dealers (FADA) approached the court seeking an extension till May 31, 2020, for the sale and registration of Bharat Stage-IV emission norm compliant vehicles.
In the plea, they informed the court that unsold inventory includes 15,000 passenger cars, 12,000 commercial vehicles, and around 7 lakh two-wheelers and due to the 21-day lockdown, announced by the Government of India, the dealers have lost crucial time for clearing stock, which will now turn into scrap.
The top court, which is only hearing urgent matters, agreed on an extension and allowed the dealers to clear 10% of their BS-IV inventories within ten days after the lockdown. However, the bench restricted such sale and registration to states, except Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
The Court also directed that the registration of vehicles, sold post-March 31, has to be completed within ten days. However, no such restriction is placed upon vehicles that are sold before the original deadline.
Indian automakers, especially dealers dealing in two-wheeler products, have been struggling to push sales since the 2018 Diwali festive season, after the industry was hit by an economic slowdown, in addition to increased upfront insurance costs. FADA said that the outbreak of the coronavirus added to their woes.
An application of similar nature was filed by the Association, in February, this year, which was rejected by the Supreme Court.
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