The National Green Tribunal on Monday sent the Volkswagen Group and two Union ministries a notice seeking a ban on the company's cars and upgrades in the vehicles to bring them up to national emission standards. PTI reported that the NGT sent its notice to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and the Ministry of Environment and Forests in addition to the company, and will hear the plea on December 23. The NGT also wants Volkswagen to pay a monetary penalty for the environmental damage its vehicles have caused, reported India Today. Thousands of Volkswagen cars were found to have flouted norms using a device that cheats tests by lowering vehicle emissions only during checks. Although the scam broke in the United States, the Automotive Research Association of India found a significant variation between emissions of cars during tests and on the road. In October, the German carmaker recalled around 1 lakh cars from India.

The NGT has asked the government to seek tests across all car manufacturers to check if they are complying with the norms. Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Heavy Industries Ministry, said the government would send a show-cause notice to the Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen will also have to recall 2.46 million cars fitted with the illegal emission control device in Germany, Reuters reported.