Hyderabad: BS VI norms set to kick in: it's raining discounts for BS IV vehicles

Hyderabad: It is raining discounts on Bharat Stage IV vehicles. Automotive dealers in the city, numbering close to 100 are reeling out discounts to woo customers as the BS-VI emission norms will come into force across India from April 1, 2020. The discounts range from 5% to 40% depending on the company and the vehicle.

Palam Raju, general manager, Hero Moto Corp dealer at Jeera in Secunderabad, says, "We are giving discounts between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000. We need to phase out the BS IV vehicles but there is another problem. Many customers who bought vehicles from us even several months ago have not registered their vehicles. The RTA imposes just Rs 25 late fee. If it increases to a minimum of Rs 1,000, people would register their vehicles on time."

On an average 30,000 new two-wheelers are registered in Greater Hyderabad. There are close to 100 dealers in the city with another 180 touch points including the sub-dealers.

Auto financiers in a fix There are 40,000 unregistered vehicles in the city. Even as customers are making a beeline to showrooms, the financiers are in a fix as they too are making the rounds to clear the backlog registrations. K Ramesh of Padmapujitha Auto Finance, LB Nagar has been making the rounds of Bajaj showroom almost every day trying to get the seized vehicles cleared.

He said, "People discontinue paying equal monthly installments and now we are in deep trouble trying to get them to register their vehicles. Likewise, several dealers too are making calls to customers who did not register to do it before March end.

All about BS norms

 Vehicular emission laws were first introduced in India in 1991. Bharat Stage norms are vehicular emission standards set by the Government of India following the implementation of the National Auto Fuel Policy in 2003

 Bharat Stage-I and Bharat Stage-II vehicle norms, broadly equivalent to Euro I and Euro II standards

 In 2005, while BS-I quality fuel was phased out

 With effect from April 01, 2020, BS VI emission norms will come into force across India.

 BS-VI fuel will be available in the country starting from April 1, 2020.

 Vehicles with BS-VI compliant engine require petrol and diesel with Sulphur content not more than 10 parts per million (ppm). BS-VI vehicles will have advanced emission control technologies such as diesel particulate filters which will help in reducing 'Particulate Matter' emission and 'Nitrogen Oxides' emission which are the major contributors to air pollution.

 Many automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motors, had begun production of BS-VI compliant vehicles in 2017-18 itself.

 By leapfrogging to BS VI standards, it is estimated that the emission of nitrogen oxides will be reduced by 88.5% and that of particulate matter will be halved in diesel-based heavy-duty vehicles. In the case of diesel-based passenger cars, the reduction will be 68% and 82% respectively. 25% reduction in emission of nitrogen oxides is also expected in the case of gasoline (petrol) based passenger cars. Thus, the emission of greenhouse gases and toxic gases will be reduced.

RTA offices extend working hours

The RTA offices in the city have extended the working hours to cater to the rush. The timing has been extended from 2:30 to 5 p.m. The number of slots in each RTA has been increased from 300 to 1,000 per day.

An employee at the Khairatabad RTA said that they have been working till 7 p.m. and beyond on certain days to clear the files.

On an average, 100 vehicles used to be registered at the Ibrahimpatnam RTA but since the last few days the registrations have gone up to 500 per day.

Customer is King

A customer checking out vehicles at a showroom in Secunderabad.