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4h ago

Supreme Court Scraps Essential-Goods Exemption, Orders Uniform Green Cess on All Commercial Vehicles Entering Delhi

The court acted on an MCD request to fix operational breakdowns at Delhi’s entry points that forced manual checks, worsening emissions.

The court order came on an application moved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
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Overview

  • An order by a bench led by CJI B. R. Gavai with Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N. V. Anjaria revoked the decade-old carve-out, with the ruling passed on September 26 and released publicly on October 2.
  • All commercial vehicles must now pay the Environment Compensation Cess, with exemptions limited to ambulances, fire engines and oil tankers.
  • MCD told the court that verifying exemptions required stopping trucks for inspection and photos, creating long queues and added pollution at border check-posts.
  • ECC had been collected via RFID with refunds issued after manual verification, and MCD reported average daily refunds of about ₹24 lakh between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.
  • The bench said the levy should not materially raise essential commodity prices, citing MCD’s estimate of ₹0.13–₹0.28 per kg, and officials said implementation will begin soon with fewer physical checks and plans to integrate with Fastag.