Photo: Prateek Rungta from Delhi, India / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Commercial goods vehicles from outside Delhi that meet only BS-IV or older emission norms will not be allowed into the capital from November 1, Gurugram traffic police said in an advisory on Friday. Once the deadline passes, only electric, CNG and BS-VI diesel commercial vehicles will be let in.
What the advisory says
The restriction covers light, medium and heavy goods vehicles, including trucks of all sizes. It also extends to buses running on All India Tourist Permits and other service arrangements, while buses registered in Delhi are exempt, the advisory said.
Police asked transporters, tour operators and drivers to check their vehicles’ emission standard and registration papers before setting out for Delhi. Vehicles that break the rule will face fines and legal action, they said. Under the air quality commission’s order, goods vehicles registered in Delhi are exempt, but the ban covers those registered anywhere else, including the neighbouring NCR districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
How the deadline came about
The rule comes from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which in April 2025 ordered that only BS-VI, CNG, LNG and electric goods vehicles from outside Delhi could enter the city from November 1, 2025. Vehicles carrying essential supplies were initially given time until October 31, 2026.
In October 2025, the commission revised the order. It noted that checking every truck at the border for essential goods was causing long queues and more emissions, and that about 40% of goods vehicles entering Delhi carried essential items. It barred BS-III and older goods vehicles outright from November 1, 2025, and let all BS-IV goods vehicles keep entering for one more year as a transitional step. That window now closes.
A separate CAQM direction requires buses entering Delhi under contract carriage, tourist and institutional or school bus permits to run on BS-VI diesel, CNG or electricity from November 1, 2026, again with an exemption for Delhi-registered buses.
Why it matters
The deadline arrives just as Delhi heads into its winter smog season, when air quality usually gets worse across the region. Ministry figures have put old trucks and buses at about 3% of the region’s vehicles but around 36% of its vehicular pollution. In neighbouring Haryana, Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh on Thursday told officials to make sure pollution controls are visible on the ground before the Graded Response Action Plan takes effect, with the state pollution board filing weekly reports.
Help for owners who need to upgrade
Owners of older trucks and buses registered in the NCR can apply for support under PARIVARTAN, a ₹9,585 crore Centre-backed scheme that the Union Cabinet approved on June 3 and that opened on July 14. It aims to replace more than 2 lakh BS-IV and older trucks and buses in Delhi and the NCR districts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
- BS-III and older vehicles must be scrapped; BS-IV vehicles can be scrapped or sold to buyers outside the NCR in cities not covered by the National Clean Air Programme.
- Benefits include road tax and registration fee waivers, interest support on vehicle loans and discounts from manufacturers.
- In Delhi, light goods vehicles bought under the scheme must be electric, and buses must be electric or BS-VI CNG.
The road transport ministry said this week that the scheme has crossed 30,000 registrations. For transporters still running BS-IV vehicles registered outside Delhi, the November 1 cut-off is about two weeks away.
