FADA seeks extension on sale of BS-IV vehicles as retail volume nosedives by up to 70 pc
After the economic slowdown, the latest coronavirus-related scare has seen retail sales nosedive. FADA has now requested the Supreme Court to extend the sale of BS-IV vehicles till May 31, 2020.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has again approached the Supreme Court with an extension request of two months for the sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles. On October 24, 2018, the apex court had directed that no BS-IV motor vehicles shall be sold or registered in India with effect from April 1, 2020.
Earlier on February 14, 2020, the Supreme Court rejected FADA’s initial application, which requested for relief due to huge unsold BS-IV inventory and slowing sales.
Speaking on the new application, Ashish Harsharaj Kale, President of FADA, said, “There has been a drastic change in circumstances in conducting business as usual. COVID-19, which emerged in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China, has spread rapidly across the globe and also in India.”
As per FADA, customer walk-ins to dealerships have also reduced to a trickle. Besides, counter sales have fallen by 60 to 70 percent due to the coronavirus scare.
The situation has worsened in the past three to four days with partial lockdowns in many cities. Some state governments (Odisha and Maharashtra) have ordered the closure of shops and establishments, including auto dealerships to stop the possible spread of the virus.
Ashish adds, “Owning to situations beyond our control and the fact that many of our members may face dealership closures if leftover with unsold BS-IV stocks, FADA has once again approached the apex body with a request for permission of sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles till May 31, 2020.”
The FADA hopes to get an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court owing to the criticality of the issue and the deadline of March 31, 2020, approaching fast.
Apart from FADA, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Monday also filed an application in the Supreme Court, seeking sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles till March 31, 2020.
The industry body said that some state governments have recently issued circulars directing that no applications for registration of BS-IV vehicles would be accepted on or after a certain date, which are much ahead of the court stipulated deadline of March 31, 2020.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)