The decision by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to waive off registration charges for EVs will make electric vehicles affordable for the customers.
In a major boost to the Electric Vehicle market in India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a new notification. Under the new notification, the government has said that all battery-operated electric vehicles will be exempted from paying a fee for the issue or renewal of registration certificates (RC).
The decision by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to waive off registration charges for EVs will make electric vehicles affordable for the customers.
“The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification dated August 2, 2021, to exempt Battery Operated Vehicles from the payment of fees for the issue or renewal of registration certificate,” the Ministry said in a statement.
“This has been notified to encourage e-mobility,” the Ministry said.
“Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 64 and section 211 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989,” the Ministry added.
The ministry has also said that battery-operated vehicles are exempted from payment of fees for the assignment of new registration marks. The decision has been taken as part of the government’s efforts to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles amid rising fuel costs as well as reducing vehicular pollution.
However, the adoption of EVs in India has been slow in comparison to the efforts of the government.
Last week, US-based electric car maker Tesla sparked a debate over the high import duty imposed for electric vehicles in India. In this debate, the Indian companies appeared to disagree with Tesla. On the other hand, Hyundai supported Tesla on import duties. According to the information received, the government is not yet considering reducing the import duty. It remains to be seen what decision is taken on this next.
