The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on Volkswagen, the German multinational automotive manufacturing company. The reasons given for the fine levied on Volkswagen were that it was “damaging the environment” through the use of “cheat devices” in emission tests conducted on its diesel cars in India.
The German auto major made the claim that it did not violate the Bharat Stage-IV emission norms and that the test results were based on “on road testings” for which there were no prescribed standards. The bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “Sustainable development is the main guiding factor… We are unable to accept the manufacturer’s objections to the report,” and urged that the car maker deposit the amount stipulated by the fine within two months. The proceeds from the fine will allegedly be used for initiatives directed toward reducing pollution around the NCR, something the NGT has been working hard to achieve.
This is not the first time that the German auto major has been caught tampering with the emission detectors used on its cars. The Volkswagen emissions scandal, also called “emissionsgate” or “dieselgate” began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to the German automaker. On 25 September 2015, the ARAI, Automotive Research Association of India investigated whether vehicles manufactured by the auto major had circumvented Indian laws and regulations on vehicle emission testing. On 11 January 2017, ARAI’s investigation into defeat devices were published and revealed that Volkswagen India had installed a derivation of the software used in the U.S. to defeat emission testing procedures in all of the Volkswagen group’s product range in India with diesel engine variants across three different brands – Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen. The report called the defeat device “not a product failure but a clear case of cheating”.
The expert committee which presented its report to the NGT in 2018 quantified the harmful emissions released by Volkswagen vehicles and explained how they are a huge health hazard. It presented in its report that Volkswagen cars released approximately 48.678 tonnes of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) in 2016 in the national capital. “Estimated cost of heath damage due to additional NOx emissions from the Volkswagen group vehicles is approximately Rs 171.34 crore using a metro city i.e Delhi as base. The value may be considered conservative due to lack of methodologies for calculating the overall impact of nitrogen oxide on the environment in India and hence only health damages are valued,” said the report. Some even made demands of a complete ban on Volkswagen sales in the country.
A Volkswagen Group India spokesperson said: “The Volkswagen Group in India reiterates that all cars from the Group are compliant with the emission norms defined in India. The group awaits the copy of the order of the NGT. The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the Honourable NGT before the Supreme Court.” The German auto maker will take the case up to the Supreme Court and should be liable to pay huge remuneration if it did in fact violate Indian emission standards.