Finally, Chandigarh revises Electric Vehicle Policy

Chandigarh, October 18

Buckled under pressure from stakeholders, the UT Administration has revised the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2022. It has increased the registration quota of internal combustion engine (ICE) for two-wheelers and four-wheelers (personal cars).

The Administration has reduced the registration target for electric two-wheelers to 15 per cent from the previous 25 per cent to be achieved in the financial year 2023-24. Similarly, the target for registration of electric cars (personal) has been reduced to 12 per cent from the previous 25 per cent to be achieved in the same financial year.

1,600 more non-electric 2-wheelers can be registered till March

• The amended EV Policy will come into force with immediate effect.
• The target for registration of electric cars (personal) reduced to 12 per cent from the previous 25 per cent.
• Once the target set for EVs (applicable for all categories) is achieved, the ICE vehicle registration will again be allowed beyond the capping in the said financial year.
• The registration of CNG (compress natural gas) vehicles will not be barred under targets and will be accounted for separately in the database.
• Parking (public parking area) will be free for all EVs across the city.
• Sources said now, 1,600 more non-electric two-wheelers can be registered till March 31 next year.

The amended EV Policy will come into force with immediate effect.

It was also decided that once the target set for EVs (applicable for all categories) is achieved, the ICE vehicles registration will again be allowed beyond the capping in the said financial year.

It was also decided to add to the policy that the registration of CNG (compress natural gas) vehicles will not be barred under targets and will be accounted for separately in the database.

Also, parking (public parking area) will free for all EVs across the city.Sources said now, 1,600 more non-electric two-wheelers can be registered till March 31 next year.

On October 6, the Administration had stopped the registration of two-wheelers running on ICE on hitting the target fixed for 2023-24 in the revised EV Policy.

According to the target, only 12,076 two-wheelers running on petrol had to be registered till March 31 next year. The target was achieved on October 6 and after that, the registration of such vehicles was stopped.

The administration had also stopped the registration of non-electric two-wheelers from February 10 to March 31 in the 2022-23 financial year.

According to the data available from September 20, 2022, till September 18 this year, a total of 19,592 non-electric two-wheelers were registered against 1,807 electric two-wheelers. Similarly, 26,372 non-electric four-wheelers were registered against 752 electric and 263 strong hybrid vehicles during the period.

With 10 dealers of two-wheelers, the city witnesses the sale of around 20,000 non-electric two-wheelers each year, approximately 1,600 sold monthly. The festive season alone witnesses the sale of 4,000 vehicles, underscoring the importance of resolving the ongoing issue.

After backlash from dealers and residents, the UT Administration had revised its policy in the first week of July and reduced the registration target for electric two-wheelers to 25 per cent to be achieved in 2023-24.

With regard to e-personal cars, the revised targets were slightly increased by 5% to 25% for 2023-24, as the double target of registration of 20% electric cars had been achieved for 2022-23, surpassing the original goal of 10%.