Supreme Court turns down plea for BSVI deadline extension
The Supreme Court has turned down the Federation of Automobile Dealers' Association (FADA)'s plea for extending the deadline for BSVI implementation to May 31. A bench consisting of judges Arun Mishra and M R Shah said they would not take up the application, and that a hearing was only possible after March 31.
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This is the second instance of the Supreme Court turning down the dealer body's plea for an extension in the sale of BSIV vehicles. Earlier in October 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that manuafacture and sale of BSIV cars would not be permitted post April 1, 2020. The court had turned down FADA's plea and asked auto makers and dealers to the "will, responsibility and urgency" to switch to BSVI norms.
The lockdown in place due to the COVID-19 spread, and the accompanying economic recession has seen a drastic drop in sales and customer walk-ins at showrooms. Counter sales have fallen by 60-70% across auto dealerships. Further, many state governments have also asked dealerships to shut shop temporirilary to check the spread of coronavirus. The dealer body has stated four-wheeler dealerships have 10 to 15 days of unsold BSIV stock while two-wheeler dealerships have 20 to 25 days of unsold inventory.
