₹1,298.38 crore collected as green cess from vehicles entering Delhi

NEW DELHI: Delhi municipal corporations have collected over ₹1298.38 crore in the form of green tax-- environmental compensation cess (ECC) from commercial vehicles entering the city through 124 border points--from October 2015 to December 2021, a government report shows.

It goes on to add that, so far, ₹281.51 crore have been utilised in five projects, leaving over ₹1,016 crore worth of funds unspent. The green tax was imposed in accordance with the orders of Supreme Court six years ago and the ECC fund was created in a bid to check high pollution levels in Delhi. The court had imposed additional tax on commercial vehicles entering the Capital in October 2015.

According to the ECC fund utilisation report dated January 4 2022 put together by the enviDepartment ronment department, ₹265 crore were used to pay National Capital Region Transport Corporation for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System in March 2019. The fund was also used to pay ₹15 crore to Indian Oil Corporation for the H-CNG project. The fund was used by the district magistrate (Central district) to deploy a traffic marshal on the non-motorised vehicle lane (NMV lane) on SPM Marg as per the request of Shahajahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (₹43 lakh), the improvement and maintenance of this lane by the Public Works (₹15 lakh) and for pre-tendering costs of the RFID digital toll collection system (₹93 lakh) by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

A senior official from the SDMC’s finance department, the nodal agency for toll and ECC collection, said that corporations are only expected to collect this green cess along with the toll tax, and the amount is deposited with the Delhi government for utilisation in environment-related projects.

Mayor of EDMC Shyam Sunder Aggarwal said that corporations are facing a financial crunch and the funds should be allocated for pollution-control projects.

“The government should allow us to use ECC funds for at environment-related projects. We are working on the mechanical sweeping of roads, water sprinkling and other measures to control air pollution levels,” Aggarwal said.

SO FAR, ₹281.51 CRORE HAVE BEEN UTILISED IN FIVE PROJECTS, LEAVING OVER ₹1,016 CRORE WORTH OF THE FUNDS UNSPENT