India’s commitment towards a clean economy has been discernible in recent global climate change initiatives including the COP 26. Amongst the five elements of India’s climate change action, India’s target statement at COP 26 mentioned that 50% of its energy requirement would be from renewable energy by 2030, and it would be achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2070. To achieve these, India must move quickly with conviction towards adoption of simple and effective policies which are easy to implement. As a start, policy makers – both at the federal and State level should avoid constant policy shifts and conflicting policy formulation. To complement this a predictable and transparent regulatory regime needs to be developed for achieving the commitments made on the global forums.
To promote adoption of EVs in Delhi, the Delhi Government announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy in August 2020, which amongst other things, stipulates transition for all delivery service provider for conversion of 50% of their fleets to electric by March 2023 and 100% by March 2025. For implementation of the 2020 EV Policy, the Delhi Government in January 2022 issued the draft Motor Vehicles Aggregator’s Scheme for eliciting public comments. The draft scheme proposes that all aggregators operating more than 50 vehicles, including digital/ web-based transportation service aggregators or delivery services aggregators would be required to obtain a license from the Delhi Government. Further, as part of the government’s drive towards adoption of EVs, aggregators need to ensure that, within 1 year from grant of license, 25% of newly onboarded 2 and 3 wheelers have to be EVs. The targets extend to requirement of 50% of newly onboarded 2 and 3 wheelers and 25% of newly onboarded 4 wheelers to be EVs within 2 years from grant of license. While setting these targets, the proposed scheme also stipulates a penalty of Rs. 1,000 per day per vehicle if the aggregator fails to comply with the conversion targets.
Please click here to read the full article by Venkatesh Raman Prasad, published in Times of India.
Venkatesh practices Corporate and Civil laws with a focus on Infrastructure, Energy and Foreign investment.