Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday approved the draft of the UT’s Electric Vehicle policy.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh has framed a “Draft Electric Vehicle Policy, 2022” in order to make Chandigarh a “Model EV City” by achieving one of the highest penetration of zero emission vehicles amongst all Indian cities in a period of five years.
“The draft of the EV policy after being notified on Thursday will now be kept in the public domain for a period of thirty days for inviting suggestions/comments from all the stakeholders and general public of UT Chandigarh,” an official of the administration stated.
It was specified that the policy shall be available on official website of the department: solar.chd.gov.in under the News & Updates Section as well as on Chandigarh Administration”s website: chandigarh.gov.in.
The Chandigarh Electric Vehicle Policy has the provision to incentivise the adoption of all vehicle categories such as e-bicycles, electric tw-wheelers, e-carts, e- autos, e-goods carriers (L5N and N1), electric four-wheelers (personal and commercial) which is over & above FAME-II policy incentives provided by the Government of India. The policy will only be applicable for those electric vehicles which are purchased and registered in Chandigarh.
In addition to this, a special early bird Incentive is also being provided to all e-vehicles that are purchased and registered in the first year of the policy period.
The Chandigarh Electric Vehicle Policy will also help in creating public charging infrastructure in every sector and aims in the first two years to have 100 such public charging stations installed in the Union Territory.
The Chandigarh Administration has requested the public that any suggestion/comment for inclusion or omission in the draft EV policy may be brought to the notice of the Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Renewable Energy & Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST), UT Chandigarh, Office at Paryavaran Bhawan (1st Floor), Sector 19-B, Chandigarh, within the stipulated period either in-person, or through post or email.
What does the policy say
In order to encourage people to buy electric vehicles, the administration in the policy has tried to weave in features that motivate people to learn towards vehicles that operate electrically. The administration in the policy has decided to waive registration fee for e-vehicles. The e-vehicles are already exempted from road tax in Chandigarh till 2024.
It was also decided that commercial vehicles, including two-wheelers attached with food delivery companies, courier services, along with all cab services — including Ola, Uber — should convert to an electric fleet by March 31, 2024
The policy specifies a 100 per cent waiver on parking charges at Chandigarh Municipal Corporation run parking lots for five years for all e-vehicles of the UT.
Also, there will be incentives of Rs 5,000 per kilowatt for buyers of electric two-wheelers subject to maximum of Rs 30,000; Rs 10,000 per kilowatt for registered owners of electric cars subject to maximum of Rs 1,50,000 (which was earlier Rs 75,000). Besides, for purchase of electric three wheelers, including e-rickshaws, e-carts, e-autos, an incentive of Rs 30,000 will be given.
The draft policy also suggests that registration of fossil-fuel-based (like petrol and diesel) two-wheelers and three-wheelers will be capped every year. Four-wheelers will be phased out in a phased manner due to limited availability of options in terms of models and price range.
A number of incentives will be introduced for the consumers to make a shift from fossil-fuel-based engines to electric vehicles.
Source: indianexpress.com
