Over 1.2 million of 2.5 million vehicles in Delhi have affixed colour-coded stickers (CCS) to indicate fuel type, the Delhi government informed the Supreme Court in an affidavit earlier this week.
The government’s response came on a top court’s order dated January 27, when it called for states in the national capital region (NCR) to ensure their roll-out, even for vehicles registered before April 2019, when the stickers were mandated under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The Delhi government, in its response, told the court that the sticker roll-out was a continuous exercise and that all vehicles in Delhi will have CCS “at the earliest”. To be sure, the 2.5 million vehicles in Delhi exclude two-wheelers and e-rickshaws.
A bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka on Friday took up the affidavit filed by Delhi and the Union of India on the national scenario on implementation of high-security registration plates (HSRP) and CCS, and adjourned the matter for next week.
Under the CCS rule, blue hologram stickers are affixed to petrol and CNG vehicles, orange for diesel-based ones and grey for the rest. The CCS is also referred to as the “third registration plate” and is made available by car dealers alongside hologram-based registration number plates.
The January 27 order by the top court directed states to publicise the same and facilitate vehicle owners to obtain the stickers from car dealers, as an effective tool in implementing the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) measures to curb pollution.
Vehicular pollution is a major contributor to air pollution, causing an increase in levels of noxious gases and particulate matter. The top court has been issuing orders from time to time while considering a petition filed by lawyer and activist MC Mehta in 1985.
The NCR extends to eight districts in Uttar Pradesh, including Noida and Ghaziabad, 14 districts in Haryana, including Faridabad and Gurugram, and Rajasthan’s Alwar and Bharatpur districts, besides the whole of Delhi.
The violation of the CCS rule attracts a minimum fine of ₹2,000 (maximum of ₹5,000) for a first offence under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (MV Act), and imprisonment for one year or a minimum fine of ₹5,000 (maximum of ₹10,000) for a subsequent offence.
In court, the Delhi government submitted that HSRP coverage has significantly improved and there were fewer than 200,000 vehicles that had neither HSRP nor CCS. Between November 2024 and February 2025, the Delhi government brought in over 400,000 vehicles under HSRP coverage, it said. Between October 2024 and February 2025, the enforcement branch of Delhi’s transport department issued 2,896 challans to vehicles for not having CCS and 1,182 challans to those without HSRP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government said that since it assumed power in February, orders were issued to transport officers to suspend transfer of ownership, addition/continuation/cancellation of hypothecation, change of address, duplicate registration and fitness certificate of vehicles not having HSRP and CCS. On February 27, the Delhi government made it mandatory to have HSRP and CCS to obtain pollution-under-control (PUC) certificates.
NCR states told the court that while the majority of vehicles registered before April 2019 were yet to obtain HSRP, they said 17 million of 18 million vehicles registered since have HSRP, taking overall coverage to 52%. The HSRP coverage is at 67% in Haryana, 82% in Rajasthan and 52% in Uttar Pradesh.
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