It's more than seven weeks now that the Goa government notified its "vehicle scrappage policy" which, on paper, is a win-win for all sides involved in the automobile sector. However, as they say, for any 'policy' to succeed and achieve the intended goals, implementation is key. Goa -- its government, in particular -- is miles away from readying the infrastructure necessary to scrap vehicles. On the other hand, Goans mostly known to be sentimental about their vehicle ownership, aren't reconciled to the idea of organising a 'funeral' for their SUV or sedan, once every 15 years. The Goan dissects the policy and elicits a response to it from various stakeholders.
Taking a cue from the Centre's 'Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program (V-VMP)' launched nearly two years ago, the Goa government notified its own “Vehicle Scrappage Policy of Goa, 2023” in May this year, setting out an ambitious goal of phasing out old polluting and unsafe vehicles from Goa's roads.
While the Centre's policy is confined to transport passenger vehicles and commercial transport sector automobiles, the Goa policy also includes vehicles owned by individuals for private use.
The policy, according to the notification issued by Transport Director Rajan Satardekar on May 10, came into effect the same day and is applicable, initially, for five years.
According to Satardekar, who also doubles up as Additional Transport Secretary to the government, ex-officio, the policy is a mutual win-win for all the stakeholders and aims to phase out unfit and polluting vehicles from the State's roads.
Some of the stated objectives of the policy are: Cutting pollution, improving road safety and fuel efficiency and generally reducing vehicle maintenance costs for vehicle owners.
It is now more than seven weeks since the policy has been 'notified' and technically it is in force. But if you own a car or an SUV which is nearing the end of its 15-year life, there is no mechanism in place yet for you to scrap the vehicle and gain from the policy and some of the incentives it offers as yet, senior officials in Goa's Regional Transport Office (RTO) admit.
2 lakh Goa vehicles
to breach scrapping
threshold this year
As per all-India data, nearly two lakh vehicles registered in Goa will be crossing their 15-year life during the course of the current year (2023). None of the owners of these vehicles will have the option to scrap them and gain the incentives, although the policy is already in force, simply because the State is yet to get an authorised scrapyard -- Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) -- which is a prerequisite for the implementation of the 'vehicle scrapping policy'.
Even the rules for setting up an RVSF (authorised scrapyard) are yet to be framed and notified. Vehicle owners will therefore have to continue to rely on the many informal scrapyards dotting the State and earn scrap value if they decide to take their vehicles off the roads.
By Satardekar's admission, as many as 3.52 lakh vehicles registered in Goa will cross their 15-year life over the five years that the scrapping policy is initially valid for. This 3.5 lakh figure, has a substantial commercial vehicle quotient and is in addition to the 1.92 lakh vehicles which complete 15 years in the current year.
"There is no way we can achieve these targets with scrapyards (RVSFs) yet to be identified and certified," a top RTO officer informally admitted. He however did not want to speak on record and be identified as he was not authorised to speak on the 'vehicle scrapping policy'.
Policy encourages
setting up RVSFs
Setting up of RVSFs, scrapyards which will be formally authorised by the RTO to scrap vehicles, incidentally is one of the salient objectives of the policy notified.
According to him, the policy will help formalise Goa's current unregulated and messy vehicle scrappage industry in Goa driven by the very many scrapyards dotting various localities.
The policy will also promote the recycling of scrap in a scientific manner which will boost the availability of low-cost raw materials for the automotive, steel and electronic industry.
According to Saterdekar, MoRTH has notified rules for setting up RVSFs and modernising vehicle scrapping facilities and it has advocated setting up of at least one such large for the State.
"Unlike developed countries, the current setup is extremely unorganised and the majority of vehicles are being routed through this informal sector which does not follow any legal environmental or ethical norms," he states.
Scrapping 'voluntary'
but 15-yr govt vehicles
to be discarded: Mauvin
For now, this policy is voluntary and owners who wish not to opt for it can continue exercising the option of putting their vehicles through the process of fitness testing and earning an additional five-year registration through the RTO.
Nonetheless, the State government will compulsorily go for the scrapping of vehicles under the policy for all government vehicles and those owned by State-owned corporations, Goa's Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho has said.
The minister, however, will have to pull his socks up if his words are to be put into action and the famous proverb 'better said than done' proved wrong.
For now, Godinho says his transport department is still "in the process of identifying land" to set up the facility for scrapping and recycling vehicles.
The minister admitted that land needs to be identified to locate these scrapyards where scrapping of vehicles can be done with minimal pollution with measures which will ensure "everything is reused”.
He reiterated that the government is "very keen" to eventually ensure all vehicles of 15 years and above, whether government or privately owned, are thus scrapped.
"Diesel or petrol. Good or bad condition. There will be no distinction. All vehicles 15 years and older will have to be scrapped eventually. For now, we have decided to start with government vehicles," Godinho said, adding that even KTC, the state-owned public transport behemoth, has been directed to phase out its old buses.
Godinho also said the government will soon invite 'expression of interest' (EoI), adding that the government does expect opposition at the local level who will raise objections to these authorised scrapyards in their localities.
What's in it for owners
opting to scrap cars
Private, non-transport vehicle owners who opt for scrapping it will get a tax concession for registration of the new vehicle they will buy subject to submitting a certificate of deposit (COD) of the vehicle issued by an authorised RVSF (scrapyard). The tax incentive will be 25% of the tax paid by the owner on the vehicle which was scrapped.
This incentive of a rebate of 25% of the tax paid on the scrapped vehicle will also be available for commercial vehicles.
For transport vehicles, however, the tax concession will be equivalent to 15% of the tax paid for a period of 8 years from the date of registration of the scrapping vehicles.
Organising, regulating
scrapyards
Interestingly, the vehicle scrapping policy could be the bulwark around which the government may work on organising, regulating and modernising scrapyards, an essential activity which has in recent years faced massive resistance from locals.
According to the policy, an RVSF may be owned and operated by any legal entity, be it a person, firm, society, company or trust legally established.
It prescribes an application in Form-I addressed to the Director of Transport, Government of Goa, who has been designated as the 'Registering Authority' for RVSFs (scrapyards). Applications are to be made online at www.nsws.gov.in and are to be accompanied by the documents mentioned in RVSF Rules, 2021 notified by the centre.
A non-refundable processing fee of Rs one-lakh and earnest money deposit by way of a 'bank guarantee' for Rs 10-lakh has been stipulated for an RVSF application, with a guarantee of a 60-day disposal period. RVSF registrations will be 10 years renewable for another 10 years at a time.
According to Satardekar, the current informal scrapping industry has the potential of getting organised with the policy and also boost the availability of low-cost raw materials for the automotive, steel and electronic industry.
Ease of doing business measures have been taken for seamless scrapping of vehicles and there will be a business opportunity for industries with RVSFs raising demand for balers, depolluting machines, tilting machines, radiation detectors, weighbridges, forklifts, cranes, shredder/hammer mills, magnetic separators, Eddy Current Separators and drum magnets, he adds.
