Plans to introduce city centre zero emissions zones for older diesel cars and vans in some 30 Dutch towns and cities are causing headaches for small businesses, the Financieele Dagblad said on Monday.

In particular, companies using vans to make deliveries from out of town are likely to be hard hit if they can no longer enter city centres, the paper said.

Some 200,000 company vehicles will fall foul of the new rules when they start coming into effect in January and need to be replaced with electric vans.

“Some engineers have already said they will no longer carry out maintenance work on central heating systems in Amsterdam, for example,” a spokesman for the light engineering sector Techniek Nederland told the Financieele Dagblad.

The cost of replacing vehicles is an issue, as is the availability of charging stations, the companies say. In addition, electric vans are not always suitable for heavy work and are not equipped with towing equipment, needed by firms which work with trailers.

“From bakers and butchers to technicians and painters with one or just a few delivery trucks must be able to reach their customers in zero emissions zones,” employers organisation VNO-NCW said.

The four big cities plan to enforce the rules from January, despite coalition government calls for a delay. Amsterdam is bringing in a transition period, but from 2028 all but electric cars and vans will be banned from the city centre.  The Hague’s transition period will run up to 2030.

Companies can apply for a subsidy of up to €5,000 to help pay for new electric vans, but the subsidy scheme will close at the end of this year.