Delhi’s Electric Vehicle Policy

• For the freight vehicles, the policy applied only to the first 10,000 registered vehicles since the issuance of the policy. 
• The scheme is extended only to the first 1000 registered vehicles for four-wheelers. The subsidy for four-wheelers has been suspended.

Additional Incentive:

Delhi Government has provided exemption from registration fees and road tax to the newly registered electric vehicles. The government has also kept the interest subvention of 5% on loans taken to purchase a – vehicle. The government has also kept the reimbursement price of Rs. 7500 on scrapping or deregistration of an old diesel/fuel vehicle.

Buses:

“The GNCTD commits to providing appropriate incentives and other support necessary to ensure that pure electric buses constitute at least 50% of all new stage-carriage buses (i.e., for all public transport vehicles with 15 seats or more) procured for the city fleet, including for the last mile connectivity, starting with the induction of 1000 pure electric buses by 2020” as per the Official notice of the Policy.

Charging Infrastructure:

The government envisaged this policy to have a public charging point every 3 km. The government has set up more than 350 charging points across the city, which they tend to increase by 600 by the mid of 2022. A proper charging facility has given the required impetus as an alternative to the existing non-electric transportation system.

The policy also aims to set up recycling facilities for used batteries. Employment generation plans and introduction of vocational courses related to maintenance of electric vehicles.  

Ambitious Target of the Policy:

• To have more than 25% share of Electric Vehicles in all New Vehicles Registration by 2024.
• To have 50% of the new two-wheelers electrical fleet by March 2023 and 100% by March 2025. 

CAB AGGREGATOR SCHEME DRAFT:

This draft policy has been placed on the official transportation website (https://transport.delhi.gov.in/home/transport-department) of the urban centre Government for general vox populi and suggestions until eighteenth Feb 2022. 

AIM: This theme is introduced to manage the services of Aggregators who ply their vehicles within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and align such services with the Delhi Electrical Vehicles Policy 2020.

To have fifty percent of the new two-wheeler electrical fleet and twenty-five percent of the new four-wheeler electrical fleet of all the cab aggregators by March of 2023.

Aggregator definition as per the official government of urban centre draft notice, “Aggregator,” shall mean any person/entity that owns, operates, or manages a digital or associate degree electronic facility or an internet platform for a traveler to attach with a driver for transportation, or connects a driver giving to deliver/pick up a product, package or parcel from a marketer, e-commerce entity or consigner.”

Scope & Pertinence of Policy:

For all those Vehicle aggregators that have over fifty vehicles in their fleet and come under the National Capital Region. Applicable to two, three, and four-wheelers (not on buses).

“Delhi has become the first state to announce the draft aggregator scheme, which mandates electric vehicle fleets for ride aggregators and delivery services. The policy was essential as presently, there is no accountability on the part of the cab aggregators. There is no set of rules for them. We had no policy to record such companies, their fleet of vehicles, and drivers until now. We aim to maximize the safety of users and ensure ease of doing business for such aggregator companies while also making them more responsible as stakeholders in public transportation,” said Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot.

The policy has mandated a base fare worth to regulate supererogatory hikes in prices; the rise will solely be double the bottom fare as per the draft. On failing the conversion of the fleet, there are the provisions of penalty up to Rs. 25000 per vehicle.

All drivers operating underneath one cab collector should be registered to the govt, and firms can charge fines for failing to do so. Drivers having ratings less than 3.5 ought to be subjected to remedial coaching. “The collector shall put up with reasonable action against the driver-partners amassing 15℅ or additional complaints for the conveyances undertaken by him/her in one month”, as per the policy draft. 

To counter the pollution impact and to further promote electric vehicles. The draft policy instructs all cab aggregators not to induct new vehicles older than five years ( from the registration date). Also, the current fleet of the onboarded firms mustn’t be older than eight years ( from the registration date).

The draft policy aims at the fleet conversion as per the table:

For Two (Mercantile) and Three Wheelers (Mercantile and Commuters)

For Four-Wheelers (Passenger and Commercial)

What was the necessity of the Policy? 

• The government wants to bring all the aggregator vehicles and delivery services vehicles under the ambit of sustainable mobility to ensure a green transition of transportation facilities.
• To address the growing concern of Delhi’s pollution-based problems. As per the study of IIT- Kanpur, the most definitive source of allocation analysis (share of specific sources of pollution) of Delhi’s air pollution, vehicles have been the consistent, second largest (approx 20℅-25℅) polluters of PM10 and PM2.5. 
• To facilitate job creation and job opportunities.
• To make use of renewable resources and reduce the burden of non-renewable resources. 
• “Over their lifetime, these EVs are totalled to avert roughly Rs 6,000 crores in oil and liquid natural gas imports and 4.8 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide emissions, which is similar to evading Carbon Dioxide emissions from nearly 100,000 petrol cars over their lifespan. They’re going to jointly facilitate avoiding 159 tonnes of PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) pipe emissions,” in step with an official document.