Electric Vehicles Exempted From Registration Fees; Govt Demands Electric Mobility Plan Within 2 Weeks

In its 2^nd attempt to shift to electric vehicles, India federal think-tank Niti Aayog has asked conventional two and three wheeler makers to provide it with a plan of transitioning towards electric vehicles within 2 weeks and cautioned that if they further continue to oppose this government’s proposals, courts will step in.

In order to leverage the adoption of electric vehicles in India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced that all electric vehicles would be exempted from paying the road taxes for vehicle registration or renewal of the same.

NITI Aayog Gives a Deadline of 2 Weeks

In 2017, the government had proposed a plan to switch into electric vehicles and had asked vehicle makers to contribute in this cause. Unfortunately, this rowed heavy backlashes from car makers.

With a target of 2025 to transit completely towards electric vehicles, the govt think tank Niti Aayog called up a meeting on Friday, constituting of major two-wheeler manufacturers, including Bajaj Auto TVS Motor and Honda among others and asked them to come up with a concrete pan to switch to electric vehicles in the next two weeks. If created any negligence in doing so, the government will have to ask courts to step in.

The idea towards fully switching into EVs is to curb population and reduce India’s dependence on fuel import bill. The govt also recommended that only electric models of scooters and motorbikes with engine capacity of more than 150cc must be sold from 2025. India doesn’t wish to miss out on the global drive towards environmentally cleaner vehicles, hence essentially starting to shift towards EV.

The automakers aren’t on board with the whole plan. They argued instead that taking such a move, at a time of sluggish sales and lack of a road map, transitioning towards EVs would be bad timed and lead to not only loss of skilled labor but also result in India losing its leadership position in scooters and motorbikes.

Electric Vehicles Exempted from Registration Charges

In an attempt to enable more and more shift towards EVs, the government has proposed that electric vehicles of all categories will be exempted from paying road taxes and renewal registration fees. Earlier this month, the Niti Aayog had proposed the sale of only electric vehicles in India starting 2030. 

The govt is vigorously trying to curb air pollution levels to meet the standards of the 2015 Paris climate change treaty and bring down its oil imports. The proposed exemption will apply to all categories of electronic vehicles, including scooters, motorbikes, auto rickshaws and cars, the government added.

It is about time India should promote electric vehicles and go green.