How to check if your vehicle is BS-VI compliant? A step-by-step guide

Delhi's air quality has slipped into the 'poor' category ahead of winter, prompting authorities to tighten pollution-control measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). GRAP is a tiered plan to control pollution, with restrictions becoming stricter with the deterioration of air quality.

Based in this metric, the BS is split into five categories: BS-I (before 2005); BS-II (2005-2010); BS-III (2010-2017); BS-IV (2017-2020) and BS-VI (April 2020 onwards). (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photo/ Representational)Stage I of GRAP was invoked across Delhi-NCR on October 21, after the capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) climbed to 244.

And from November 1, vehicles registered outside Delhi that do not meet BS-VI emission standards will be barred from entering the capital. The restriction will remain in force until January 31, 2027. CNG and electric vehicles, along with emergency and essential-service vehicles, will be allowed entry.

Official estimates suggest that more than 10 lakh vehicles in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad fall below the BS-VI standard. To help commuters, HT now has a vehicle entry checker. Enter your registration number, and the tool reads your vehicle's registration details to tell you whether it is allowed to enter Delhi under the current rules.

Check it out. With the new vehicle-entry restrictions, vehicle owners need to check whether their vehicles meet the prescribed emission standards before travelling to the national capital. From registration details and fuel type to Bharat Stage (BS) emission standard, here are the key things vehicle owners should keep in mind to avoid being denied entry.

The first step is to establish where your vehicle is registered. ALSO READ | No PUCC, no entry into Delhi from Nov 1: What the test measures, and pollutants it cannot trace The restriction applies differently depending on the vehicle's fuel type.

The most reliable way to identify your vehicle's Bharat Stage (BS) classification is through its official registration and manufacturer documents. 1. Check your Registration Certificate (RC). Look for fields such as ‘Fuel Norms’, ‘Emission Norms’ or ‘Norms Type’.

The exact field name may vary across registration systems. 2. Check Form 22. Form 22 is the initial certificate of compliance issued by the vehicle manufacturer. It specifies the emission norms applicable to the vehicle.

Do not confuse it with Form 21, which is the vehicle's sale certificate. 3. Check the Parivahan portal. If you do not have a physical copy of your RC, you can check your vehicle details through the government's Parivahan portal or the relevant state transport department's records.

4. Contact the manufacturer or an authorised dealer. If the emission classification is not available in your documents, share your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or chassis number with the manufacturer or an authorised dealer to obtain the vehicle's specifications.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) can help identify your vehicle and retrieve its manufacturing details. A standard VIN generally has 17 characters and can be found: However, the VIN does not universally encode the Bharat Stage classification.

Its characters and year codes vary across manufacturers. Therefore, do not rely on the manufacturing year or VIN alone to establish BS-VI compliance. Once you have established your vehicle's registration location, fuel type and emission standard, use the following guide.

Separate requirements apply to non-Delhi-registered light goods vehicles (LGVs), medium goods vehicles (MGVs) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).