Green Court Questions Volkswagen India Over Delay In Recalling Affected Vehicles

The green court has directed the company to submit a plan for the vehicle recall it announced in 2016. The tribunal also stated its intention to impose environmental costs for the delay and violations, unless Volkswagen's Indian arm speeds up the process.

The NGT asked the company why costs should not be imposed on it for allowing nearly 3.14 lakh "polluting" vehicles ply on Indian roads for more than a year after it announced to recall the affected vehicles.

The green court was hearing a petition by Saloni Ailawadi, who said that VW vehicles were not only violating the country's emission norms but were also jeopardising the lives of people.

In September 2016, the Ministry of Heavy Industries had requested the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to find out if VW was selling the same vehicles in India that were found in violation of the U.S. emission norms.

ARAI found discrepancies in the on-road emission levels of the vehicles and the laboratory measurements. In response, VW said ARAI had approved the redesigned software for only 70 percent of the 3.14 affected vehicles in the country.

ARAI said Volkswagen had proposed the redesigned software for only 70 percent of its affected vehicles. The agency stated that Volkswagen was yet to submit the redesigned software for the remaining 30 percent affected vehicles.

In a statement, the company said, "We are in the process of implementing thevoluntary recall of vehicles fitted with EA 189 diesel engines in India. We are cooperating with the concerned agencies and putting our best endeavours to conclude the recall process soon. We have received approvals for 13 out of 16 types of vehicles that are eligible for the voluntary recall."

Until Volkswagen India recalls the affected vehicles, the German company recentlyunveiled an electric vehiclenamed ID Buzz, below is an extensive photo gallery of the concept vehicle, click to view.