No, Govt Is Not Stopping Electric Vehicle Firms From Manufacturing New Vehicles, Despite New Cases Of Fire, Accidents

If you have read news about the sale of electric bikes being banned in India by the government, this is not true. 

The MoRTH has itself rubbished this news.

MoRTH Rubbishes Rumors Of Government Banning Sales Of Electric Bikes

This led to a rumor making the rounds of the internet that the MoRTH has banned the sales of electric bikes in India. 

However, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has made it clear that no such ban has been implemented. 

There were false rumors that the Government of India had asked electric vehicle (EV) makers of two-wheelers to halt any upcoming launches. The rumors stated that this decision came after the ministry held a meeting in Delhi and apparently wanted time to set up a body for investigating the incidents where electric vehicles were catching fires. 

The Ministry has tweeted, “A section of media has reported that MoRTH has asked electric two-wheeler manufacturers not to launch new vehicles till instances of fire are investigated. The Ministry wishes to clarify that there is no such instruction and such reports are unfounded, misleading and far from truth.”

Electric Two Wheelers Of Ola, Okinawa Catching Fire

As we all know, the owners of electrically powered two-wheelers are not happy with their experiences, what with the bikes catching fire. In recent weeks, scooters from Ola Electric, Pure EV, Okinawa Scooters, and Jitendra Electric Vehicles have been caught on fire. 

An Ola S1 pro electric scooter was on fire in Lohegaon, Pune.

At the beginning of April, a dealership in Balaghat near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh belonging to Ghaziabad based e-Ashwa Automotive caught fire. The dealership sells a range of electric scooters and rickshaws.

40 electric scooters from Jitendra Electric Vehicles caught fire on April 11 after being loaded in a transport container in Nashik.

On March 28, the government pulled up an expert team to investigate the incidents. 

On April 7, it summoned the technical teams of Ola Electric and Okinawa Scooter for an explanation. It was then that Ola Electric Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said that the company may recall a few batches of electric scooters depending on the recommendations from probing agencies.