"Vehicular emissions are a year-round problem, not a seasonal one, in Delhi-NCR's air crisis." Evaluate the regulatory response, including CAQM, GRAP and End-of-Life vehicle rules.

On 6 November 2026, a Supreme Court Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant called vehicular emissions a constant and worsening source of Delhi's toxic air, not a Deepavali-season spike [1]. The regulatory response is well designed, but it still relies too much on emergency and age-based tools.

Strengths

• Statutory coordination: CAQM, set up under the 2021 Act, covers the NCR and adjoining areas of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP. Its directions override State pollution bodies [2].
• Stricter GRAP: the 2026 revision removed the essential-goods exemption for BS-IV and older goods vehicles in Stages III–IV. It also restricted diesel LGVs and MGVs registered outside Delhi [3].
• Technology-based EoL enforcement: Direction No. 89 denies fuel to End-of-Life vehicles identified by ANPR cameras at fuel stations [4].
• Targeting heavy polluters: trucks and buses are about 3% of vehicles but about 36% of transport PM2.5. The NCRPB scheme funds their replacement [5]. Aggregator and delivery fleets must shift to cleaner vehicles from 1 January 2026 [6].

Weaknesses

• Seasonal mindset: GRAP's vehicle curbs start only at Stages III–IV, when the air is already very poor. A year-round source gets a winter remedy [1][3].
• Age, not emissions: the 10/15-year rule ignores how much a vehicle is used. A garaged 12-year-old car is banned, while a 9-year-old taxi driven all day is not. A BS-IV vehicle emits about 2.7 times as much as a BS-VI one, so the BS level is a better test [5].
• Delays and gaps: the fuel ban was postponed and phased, covering Delhi and five districts first [4]. Until the whole NCR is covered, old vehicles can refuel in neighbouring districts.
• Outdated evidence: a parliamentary standing committee found the source apportionment studies out of date. Without current data, the effect of each rule cannot be measured [7].
• Burden shifted to citizens: the Court says people must lead [1]. But citizens do not control bus supply, truck entry or ANPR coverage.

Overall, policy has moved from crisis management towards structural measures, but enforcement is still seasonal and uneven. CAQM's Expert Committee on vehicular emissions [8] should shape rules based on actual emissions and usage. These should rest on fresh source studies, year-round heavy-vehicle curbs paired with replacement support, and more public transport. That would give citizens real choices and secure the Article 21 right to clean air and SDG 11.