Volkswagen given fine for misleading Dutch consumers over diesel scandal

DutchNews, November 28, 2017

Pollution from car engine. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Car maker Volkswagen has received the highest possible fine for misleading consumers from the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets. 

On Tuesday the body announced a penalty of €450,000 for ‘unfair commercial practices’ as Volkswagen advertised certain cars as eco-friendly ‘while the results of emission tests had been manipulated by illegal software.’ 

Dutch consumer organisation the Consumentenbond believes this fine may have cleared the way for people to bring personal claims for damages, according to the NOS broadcaster. It wants to discuss compensation with the German manufacturer. 

In autumn 2015, Volkswagen admitted that it had sold 11 million cars worldwide with secret ‘defeat device’ software that ensured it would pass emissions tests in a laboratory, while the cars emitted higher levels of pollution on the road. 

Cateautje Hijmans van den Bergh, an ACM board member, said in a press release: ‘We have established that Volkswagen has misled Dutch consumers about the emission of harmful pollutants. Therefore, ACM has imposed a fine [to] send a clear signal. Consumers are entitled to [receive] reliable information.’ 

Volkswagen has set aside almost $15 billion to compensate American customers but yet discussed any payment in Europe, although customers with the cars involved do have an extra two-year guarantee, reports broadcaster NOS. 

Volkswagen told DutchNews.nl in a statement: ‘Volkswagen disagrees with the decision taken today… and intends to appeal against it. Volkswagen does not believe it infringed Dutch consumer protection laws. 

‘All Dutch customers who acquired a Volkswagen, SEAT, Audi or SKODA vehicle with an EA189 diesel engine have been treated fairly. All vehicles have kept type approval and so remain roadworthy, and there has been no violation of emissions regulations or laws. Our customers remain our number one priority and we are working hard to earn back their trust.’

Norway seeks 'Tesla tax' on electric cars

Yahoo – AFP, 12 October 2017

Abolishing Norway's tax exemptions for electric cars would slap thousands on the
purchase price of a Tesla

Norway, a world leader of zero-emission vehicles, on Thursday proposed a "Tesla tax" aimed at cutting a tax advantage granted to large electric cars in a heavily criticised move.

Electric cars, which have hitherto been exempted from heavy taxes imposed on other vehicles, accounted for 20 percent of new registrations in the Nordic country since the beginning of this year, an unprecedented market share in the world.

In a 2018 finance bill presented to the parliament on Thursday, the right-wing minority government suggested removing a one-off tax exemption for new electric cars weighing more than two tonnes.

The proposal was immediately dubbed the "Tesla tax" because it primarily affects the high-end models made by the American manufacturer. Buying a new Tesla X would cost about 70,000 kroner (7,500 euros, $8,800) more.

Justifying the proposed tax measures, Finance Minister Siv Jensen argued that these heavy sedans exhaust the roads as much as gasoline and diesel cars, and that the owners should therefore contribute.

The proposal has sparked a heated debate.

"It's a tax bomb," Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association Secretary General Christina Bu told AFP.

"This was unexpected by both the drivers and by the car industry and it sends a bad signal to the Norwegians and the world" for which the nation is often a model in this matter, Bu added.

She underlined that Norway has set an ambitious target of ending the sales of new cars with combustion engines as early as 2025.

The largest oil producer in western Europe, Norway has introduced many incentives to purchase electric cars.

In addition to generous tax exemptions, which critics say allow the richest to buy Tesla vehicles at a good price, Norway's electric car drivers benefit from free city tolls, free parking and the possibility of travelling in the bus corridors.

The government needs the support of other parties in the parliament to get its budget approved.

Its traditional centre-right allies have already spoken out against the "Tesla tax", noting a 2015 agreement has granted tax advantages for electric cars until 2020. 

Expanding bike lanes, handing out free helmets and making lessons free: New York is making great strides in encouraging pedal power

Expanding bike lanes, handing out free helmets and making lessons free: New York is making great strides in encouraging pedal power pic.twitter.com/YzZMRwo3R7

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 21, 2017

Delhi restricts vehicles as smog envelopes India and Pakistan

Yahoo – AFP, November 9, 2017

Low winds and the annual post-harvest burning of crop stubble have caused the
 levels of dangerous pollutants in the air to spike to many times the levels
considered safe (AFP Photo/NARINDER NANU)

New Delhi (AFP) - New Delhi banned all construction, barred lorries from entering the city and announced stringent restrictions on private car use on Thursday, seeking to combat a massive spike in pollution across large swathes of India and Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of schools in Delhi and surrounding states remained closed as a hazardous fog of toxic pollution cloaked the region for a third day, bringing growing calls for urgent government action to tackle what doctors are calling a public health emergency.

"The situation in Delhi is so bad and if the pollution can be brought down in any way, we will do it," the city's transport minister Kailash Gahlot told reporters as he announced plans to limit private car use to alternate days from next Monday.

Authorities in the city had earlier ordered a ban on all construction work and barred lorries from entering the city as public pressure on the government mounted.

Around 50,000 mostly diesel-fuelled lorries pass through India's capital every night and they are a major contributor to the pollution plaguing the city.

Air quality typically worsens before the onset of winter as cooler air traps pollutants near the ground and prevents them from dispersing into the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as inversion.

Low winds and the annual post-harvest burning of crop stubble in the northern farming states of Punjab and Hariyana have caused the levels of dangerous pollutants in the air to spike to many times the levels considered safe.

Figures on the US embassy website showed levels of PM2.5 -- the smallest particulates that cause most damage to health -- spiked at over 1,000 on Wednesday afternoon in Delhi, though by Thursday afternoon they had fallen to 400.

The World Health Organization's guidelines say 25 is the maximum level of PM2.5 anyone can safely be exposed to over a 24-hour period.

Doctors say the microscopic particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Chart showing air quality readings from New Delhi where schools were ordered 

shut as pollution levels went off the scale. (AFP Photo/Nick SHEARMAN)

"Delhi once again has become a veritable gas chamber with denizens finding it difficult to breathe," The Times of India said Thursday, joining growing calls for government action to curb the chronic pollution, which the Indian Medical Association this week termed a public health emergency.

"Air pollution during winter months has become a catastrophe for large parts of north India," the country's most read English-language newspaper said in an editorial blaming "political apathy".

'Burning in my eyes'

In neighbouring Pakistan's second largest city Lahore, near the Indian border, hundreds flocked to hospitals seeking treatment for respiratory illnesses and eye infections caused by the pollution.

The PakAirQuality network, which publishes unofficial air reports on social media, said the concentration of PM 2.5 in the city had topped 300.

Motorcycle riders wore green face masks and goggles as they tried to cope with the smog, but for some the protection was not enough.

"I am feeling burning in my eyes," said labourer Zawar Hussain. "I will visit a doctor in the evening."

It is the second year running that Delhi -- now the world's most polluted capital with air quality worse than Beijing -- has faced such high levels of PM2.5.

Media reports said the thick smog had also led to a series of road accidents in north India.

Eight students were killed late Wednesday when a truck ploughed into them as they waited for a bus on a roadside in Punjab.

Since 2014, when WHO figures showed the extent of the crisis, authorities in Delhi have closed power plants temporarily and experimented with taking some cars off the road.

But the temporary measures have had little effect.

Under pressure to respond, Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday sought to blame stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states.

"We we will continue facing this every year until the neighbouring state governments resolve the issue of crop burning," he told reporters in Delhi.

The practice of burning crop stubble remains commonplace in north India despite an official ban.