Nearly two days after the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) or environment cess on trucks entering Delhi was implemented, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said around Rs 1.25 crore was being collected in a day. The Supreme Court had ordered that the cess be implemented from November 1.
Officials said the concessionaire, SYMR Consortium, had collected the amount from 124 entry points to the city each day. “The exact details of the amount collected is awaited. But preliminary information shows that around Rs 1.25 crore is being collected daily,” said an official.
From Saturday, environment tax amounting to Rs 700 on light-duty vehicles and Rs 1,300 for three-axle vehicles and above has been levied at all entry points into the city. “Trucks ‘destined to Delhi’ are not expected to pay this amount. The tax is applicable only to trucks which pass through Delhi,” the official added.
The concessionaire had initially said the implementation of the cess would result in a 30 per cent drop in the number of trucks entering the capital. Affirming this, the official said, “The concessionaire has informed the corporation that even as it takes responsibility for collecting the ECC, the number of commercial vehicles crossing these entry points has gone down by 30 per cent… However, one of the reasons behind levying such a tax was to bring down the amount of traffic entering Delhi.”
On October 12, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi government and the SDMC to levy ECC on trucks and small vehicles entering the city. The move was also aimed at checking Delhi’s increasing air pollution.
