BHUBANESWAR: Amid push for dismantling old unfit vehicles in the state, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has directed producers, registered vehicle scrapping facilities (RVSFs) and bulk consumers to register on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) online Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) portal within three months.
The Board has clarified that registration is mandatory under the Environment (Protection) (End of Life Vehicles) Rules, 2025, notified by the MoEFCC.
The entities concerned have also been directed to submit their registration details to the OSPCB. The Board has warned that failure to register within the stipulated period or non-compliance with the provisions of the Rules may invite legal action, including the imposition of Environmental Compensation (EC) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
According to the notice, the Rules place legal obligations on producers that include entities which manufacture, assemble, sell or import vehicles, along with registered vehicle scrapping facilities and bulk consumers owning more than 100 vehicles, including state transport undertakings.
These entities are responsible for ensuring environmentally-sound handling, processing, recycling and refurbishing of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs). The agency has also highlighted the responsibilities of various stakeholders under the Rules.
As per the Board, vehicle owners must ensure that their vehicles undergo fitness testing at authorised testing stations and unfit vehicles are sent only to registered scrapping facilities.
It also underlined that collection centres handling ELVs are required to maintain records and transport such vehicles to authorised scrapping facilities in an environmentally-sound manner.
Bulk consumers are required to deposit their vehicles at designated RVSFs within 180 days from the date on which the vehicles become ELVs. They must also obtain registration on the centralised portal through the State Board and file annual returns, while producers have been directed to fulfil their extended producer responsibility obligations only through registered entities.
Automated testing stations have been directed to upload details of vehicles declared unfit on the centralised online portal while RVSFs assigned responsibilities like recycling, safe disposal of the hazardous waste.