(This story originally appeared in on Jul 27, 2019)

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at discouraging petrol and diesel vehicles, phasing out old ones and promoting electric vehicles, the road transport ministry has proposed in a draft notification to hike the two fees in case of most categories of vehicles running on conventional fuel. For two-wheelers, the new registration fee will be Rs 1,000 against the current Rs 50; renewal charges will be Rs 2,000. In the case of cabs, the registration fee and renewal charges will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively, up from Rs 1,000.The draft notification proposes to hike the registration fee of imported vehicles from Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000. On May 30, TOI had reported about an imminent government move to put “road bumps” for vehicles running on conventional fuel.In case of imported motorcycles, the new registration fee will be Rs 20,000 against the current Rs 2,500. “We have sought feedback from all stakeholders before notifying the final fee structure in the next 40-45 days,” said an official.The ministry has already notified a draft proposal to do away with registration fee of electric or battery-operated vehicles. Moreover, people buying new vehicles after scrapping old polluting ones will be exempt from paying the registration fee.“The proposal of steep increase in the renewal fee for commercial vehicles, particularly trucks, buses and other heavy vehicles by nearly 27 times is aimed at making people opt for scrapping them once they are over 15-year old,” said a government official. Sources said fee exemption for new vehicles bought after scrapping old ones would not have been that attractive had the government continued with the present paltry charges.