Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said during the meeting that he questioned what steps the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was taking towards green initiatives while continuing to levy the levy and urged that the Environmental Compensatory Charge (ECC) levied on commercial vehicles traveling to and from Delhi be scrapped.
He raised concerns about whether the collected money is actually being used to tackle pollution as intended, Gadkari said at an India Today event.
“Why do you collect tolls?”
Gadkari stated, “In a joint meeting, I asked the corporation (MCD) what is your contribution for green activities. (They said) no contribution… Why are you collecting toll? They tell me it is a Supreme Court decision, then I asked the Delhi Chief Minister to stop it immediately.”
Gadkari mentioned that when his ministry reviewed the funds collected under the tax, it found that though the levy was imposed, the money was not used to improve air quality as originally intended.
He further said that officials from MCD told him that green fee is an important source of revenue for the civic body. Gadkari suggested that the Delhi government may instead provide ₹800-900 crores as grants to help the company rather than withholding tax.
Gadkari said officials pointed to the Supreme Court order to justify its continuation while highlighting the legal rationale for the tax. He added that he had asked for intervention so that the court could review the matter and offer assistance to those affected by the levy. The minister’s statement again calls into question how the funds collected in the name of reducing pollution are being used.
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ECC, which was imposed by the Supreme Court of India in 2015, is imposed on commercial vehicles entering Delhi to curb air pollution. The fee, collected in addition to normal toll taxes, was intended to deter polluting vehicles from entering the capital and fund projects aimed at improving public transport and pedestrian infrastructure.
The Supreme Court struck down a 10-year-old exemption that allowed commercial vehicles carrying essential goods to enter Delhi without paying ECC.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai along with Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria issued the order on September 26, though it was made public only recently. The court noted that the exemption, originally granted in October 2015, caused “genuine operational difficulties” and undermined the objective of the tax, according to PTI.
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The bench approved MCD’s application seeking withdrawal of “exemption granted to commercial vehicles carrying essential commodities viz. vegetables, fruits, milk, cereals, eggs, ice (for use as food), poultry… loaded vehicles from ECC pursuant to this order dated 09.10.2015”
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The civic body said the exemption granted by the court has led to serious problems as vehicles have to be stopped to verify whether they are carrying essential commodities. She said the process causes extended stops during which vehicles continue to emit smoke, increasing air pollution.
The bench said: “We find that the said problem appears to be real. It is indeed difficult to find a mechanism to externally verify what goods are being transported in such vehicles. Therefore, all vehicles are required to be stopped at checkpoints and subjected to physical inspection, which results in prolonged stoppage and aggravates the problem of air pollution.”
