Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025

The Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025, were issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change on January 6, 2025, and are to be effective from April 1, 2025. The rules are intended to improve the management and recycling of old vehicles in India. This act works in the direction of reducing injury to the environment through definable responsibilities for automobile manufacturers, owners, and scrapping centers. This is indeed an important gesture of the government in favour of nature and solving the menace of vehicle waste.

Benefits of the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025 

• Environmental cleanliness: Proper handling and recycling of old vehicles reduce pollution and environmental damage.
• Health protection: Vehicles are disposed of safely from harm-causing substances and their creation to public health.
• Resource recycling: Saving resources, hence reducing waste in materials drawn from old vehicles.
• Clear responsibilities: Producers, owners, and scrapping centers ensure defined roles and responsibilities.
• Centralized system: An online portal streamlines the management and tracking of End-of-Life vehicles.

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Key Provisions of the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025 

1. Title and commencement: These Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025 shall be effective from 1st day of April 2025.

2. Definitions: Here are the important definitions, among others, made such as:

• Act
• Automated testing station
• Bulk consumer
• Central board
• Collection center

Definitions define the entities as well as processes concerning the reception collection and treatment of used vehicles in order to ensure sound environmental management practices.

3. Application: These regulations cover producers, registered owners of vehicles, large consumers, and facility operators in the scrapping and testing of vehicles. The management rules for waste batteries, plastic packaging, waste tyres, used oil, and E-waste are not included here. Vehicles that are covered do not include agricultural tractors, trailers, combine harvesters, and power tillers. 

4. EPR certificate: The EPR certificate is issued online for the benefit of the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities from the Central Board. This certificate is based upon the proportion of steel recovered from an End-of-Life vehicle, and it shall be sold by the producers to meet recycling obligations. A certificate shall be valid for five years and once the same is applied, the same cannot be transferred or reused. 

5. Environmental compensation: If any company is guilty of environmental crime, then a fine known as environmental compensation needs to be given. The collected money will be used for rectification. Central Board will impose on the producers whereas State Boards on the large consumers and recycling unit.

6. Centralized online portal: The Central Board will establish a centralized online portal within six months. This portal will facilitate the registration, return filing, and management of End-of-Life Vehicles through producers and bulk consumers. This will allow the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility to exchange Extended Producer Responsibility certificates also, ensuring all the data regarding the waste and vehicles are always accessible.

7. Implementation committee: To implement these rules, an implementation committee will be constituted. It will monitor progress, guide the development of the portal, and consist of members from different ministries and stakeholders. They will report to the Central Government every six months.

Responsibilities included in the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025

Producer: Vehicle producers have significant duties. They have to ensure old vehicles are recycled and meet particular targets. These include encouraging the owners to take their vehicles to recycling centers and offering them incentives. They also have to register with the Central Board, report vehicle data annually, and raise awareness of recycling.

Registered owners and bulk consumers: There are certain responsibilities of registered owners and bulk consumers of a vehicle. They have to ensure that the vehicles undergo tests under the Motor Vehicles Act. A declared End-of-Life vehicle has to be deposited within 180 days at a designated facility. Apart from that, online registration and filing of annual returns about their vehicles is required for bulk consumers.

Collection centers: Collection centers have very important jobs. They collect and store End-of-Life vehicles, which are then forwarded to Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities. They have to handle these vehicles in a safe manner for the environment and maintain records of all the vehicles received and dispatched for scrapping.

Automated testing station: The automated testing station has to upload the details of the vehicle that is not roadworthy. This is transmitted to a central online portal set up by the government to track.

Registered vehicle scrapping facility: A registered vehicle scrapping facility is responsible for managing End-of-Life vehicles safely. Such activities include the treatment and disposal of harmful substances, disassembling parts, waste storage, and recycling metal and battery resources. Vehicle intake and waste monitoring, transmission of materials to recyclers, and quarterly reporting to the State Board are some requirements of the facility.

Central Board: The main functions of the central board include registration of online producers within fifteen days, holding the registration until cancelled, and conducting regular inspections to check compliance. In addition, it publishes annual reports on the performance of producers, formulates recycling guidelines for end-of-life vehicles and is in charge of EPR certificates and fees.

State Board: The state board registers the vehicle scrapping facilities and the bulk consumers within fifteen days. The registrations are valid until they are cancelled. In case any false information is discovered, the board can suspend the registrations for a period of up to five years. 

Environmental Compensation of the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025

• Producers, Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities, and bulk consumers should ensure the safe disposal of End-of-Life vehicles in order not to cause damage to the environment and public health. They have to pay for it if they fail.
• Equitable share of the loss to the environment.
• Explanation would be provided before the fine.
• The State Board fines producers while the Central Board impose fines on the scrapping facilities.
• If one acts according to rules later, one can recover money: 75% in one year, 60% within two years and 40% within three years.
• Collected funds will help in rectifying environmental damage from incorrect disposal of a vehicle.

Forms Introduced in the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025

Form 1: Annual return by the producer

This form is for vehicle manufacturers to submit how many vehicles they sold and scrapped during a particular year.

Form 2: Annual return by bulk consumer

This form is for bulk consumers that is fleet owners, to submit information regarding the number of vehicles owned and scrapped annually.

Form 3: Quarterly returns by registered vehicle scrapping facility

The Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities are required to submit this form quarterly to declare their vehicle scrapping activities.

Form 4: Application for registration by a producer

This form is required to be submitted by the Vehicle producers to the Central Pollution Control Board for registration.

Form 5: Registration by registered vehicle scrapping facility

This application form is intended for facilities that require registration as permitted locations for the scrapping of vehicles.

Form 6: Application by bulk consumer

Application forms for this purpose are needed by bulk consumers to register themselves with the State Pollution Control Board.

Form 7: Producer's certificate of registration

A certificate of registering a producer, in this context, is granted through this form.

Form 8: Facility or bulk consumer's registration scrapping facility/bulk consumer

This is to be used in registering a facility or bulk consumer with the State Pollution Control Board and for procuring a registration certificate.

Targets for EPR in the Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025

• Producers must abide by rules for vehicles sold, depending on how long those vehicles might last normally.
• Targets deal with recycling steel from retired vehicles.
• Scrapping refers to stripping apart the old vehicles to recycle the steel present in them.
• Battery recycling will be governed by the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.
• Used tyres and oil would fall under the Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules of 2016.
• There are different targets for transport and non-transport vehicles.
• Producers collect the certificates from approved scrapping places to demonstrate that they fulfill their recycling goals. If there are no certificates, they should assist in gathering the old vehicles themselves.

Conclusion

The Environment Protection (End-of-Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025 is new in India, they improve how old vehicles are managed better. They advise what vehicle manufacturers or owners have to do with those cars when they cannot run. It fosters recycling and ensures a clean environment. The owners have to take their scrap cars to certain places within 180 days. There will also be online tracking for everything. Otherwise, they will have to pay some fines for that. Strictly speaking, all of these rules are for environmental protection and the safe clearance of vehicles.