In his address to the nation earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3, 2020. The lockdown was originally supposed to span 21 days, from March 25 to April 15.
With the lockdown now extended, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) will be approaching the Supreme Court to review the BS4 vehicles registration deadline. To recap, on March 27, 2020, the Supreme Court had ruled that BS4 emission standard vehicles that were sold before the March 31, 2020, sales deadline but could not be registered by the date owing to the prevailing lockdown, can be registered until April 30. But now, with dealers and RTOs set to reopen shutters only on May 3, an extended deadline is warranted. As per records available with the court, there are 1,05,000 BS4 two-wheelers, 2,250 BS4 passenger vehicles and 2,000 BS4 commercial vehicles that have been sold but could not be registered.
With regards to the fresh sale of BS4 vehicles, the lockdown extension will merely defer the sales window available to dealers. As per the Supreme Court’s original order, automotive retailers will be allowed to sell only 10 percent of unsold BS4 inventory for 10 days post the lockdown. Should the extended lockdown end on May 3 as planned, retailers will have between May 4-13 to sell BS4 stock. As per FADA, the unsold BS4 inventory with dealers across the country comprises 7,00,000 two-wheelers, 15,000 passenger vehicles and 12,000 commercial vehicles.
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