As many as 1,280 new electric vehicles (EVs) have been registered in the national capital since the notification of the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, 2020, on August 7, but these vehicle owners are yet to get the subsidy promised to them by the policy.
This is because the Delhi government is yet to set up the state EV fund and transport minister Kailash Gahlot said subsidies and other benefits such as a waiver on road tax and registration fee are likely to be launched next week.
The government had announced a subsidy of ₹1.5 lakh (₹10,000 per kWh of battery capacity) for the first 1,000 electric four-wheelers. A subsidy of up to ₹30,000 (₹5,000 per kWh of battery capacity) was to be given on the purchase of each electric two-wheeler, auto-rickshaw, rickshaw and freight vehicle.
Also, those buying electric vehicles are to be exempted from paying road tax and registration fee. At present, road tax ranges from 4% to 10% of the cost of the vehicle, while the registration fee is about ₹3,000 per vehicle.
However, the government is still undecided on whether these benefits would be extended to those who already bought EVs afterAugust 7. A senior official, on condition of anonymity, said subsidies and tax waivers would require a separate notification from the transport department, which has not been issued yet.
“It is yet to be decided whether those who bought EVs after August 7 would be eligible or not. If they are, then the transport department will simply have to notify the cut-off date as August 7 or so, for the purchase of the EV, so that new owners can also avail of the benefits,” the official quoted above said.
When asked about the delay in notifying the waivers and subsidy, Gahlot said building the software for disbursal of subsidies took time. “Now that the software is ready, I have issued directions to make the software undergo rigorous testing. Once the testing is done, all subsidies shall be launched.We are expecting it to start sometime next week. We were planning for this week, but some work is still left with regard to the registration fee waiver,” Gahlot said.
As per the scheme, the subsidy will be paid to eligible buyers within two days, a second transport official, on condition of anonymity, said.
“The vehicle dealers will access the software and fill the details of the electric vehicle and buyer at the time of sale. Within 48 hours, a subsidy amount will be credited to the bank account of the buyer after verification by motor licensing officials,” the official said.
The vehicle dealers will haveto self-registerwith the transport department to be able to process the subsidy at the time of sale, the official said.
According to the national dashboard of car registrations, Delhi registered 1,287 EVs between August 7 and September 21. This means at least 1,000 EVs were bought post the EV policy notification, but no government benefit was extended to these owners.
A senior government official said the state EV fund will be established soon and it is likely to start with a seed money of ₹20 crore that will be diverted from the existing air ambience fund of the Delhi government.
To persuade people to shift to EVs, the policy also has a “scrapping incentive” for those who make the shift from petrol and diesel vehicles.