The clause in the broader Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022 says that a company, if found in violation of fleet emission scores, will have to shell out a fine of Rs 25,000 per car sold. Penalties may run into thousands of crores of rupees for large volumes.
The bill empowers the government to mandate the use of nonfossil fuels by industries, set efficiency standards for vehicles, ships, and equipment, as well as create a domestic carbon trading market to hasten the green transition.
While the average corporate CO2 emission limit for Indian carmakers has been fixed at 113gm per km, each company will have their individual limits based on number of cars sold and mix of fuel type — petrol, diesel, hybrid, CNG, or electric. The Rs 25,000 fine will kick in if the fleet CO2 emission for a company is higher by 0-4.7%.
If fleet CO2 emission is higher than 4.7gm, then penalty will be Rs 50,000 per unit sold. Industry watchers told TOI that fines set in India are “much higher” to those in other geographies and will be a setback to companies, which have been working to add sustainability to fleet.
“In case of companies that sell in volumes, penalty can run into thousands of crores of rupees, even if CO2 emissions are slightly above the limit. This is unfair as companies are investing in green technologies such as hybrids, electrics, and CNG, over and above what they spent on migrating to BS6 standards,” an official told TOI.
