Industry bodies urge Delhi govt to relax EV transition timelines

New Delhi, July 5 (KNN) Multiple tech and internet industry bodies have urged the Delhi government to relax electric vehicle (EV) transition timelines, according to a report in The Economic Times.

ET had reported last week about IAMAI’s submission that an aggressive EV transition could impact the livelihoods of gig workers across Delhi who had invested in conventionally powered two-wheelers.

As per reports, Nasscom, which represents companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Uber, and tech industry lobby group IndiaTech (which represents companies including Ola, Zomato and Zepto) have also flagged the timelines for EV transition.

Nasscom in its submission said, “Targets for adoption of EVs should be in consonance with the availability of vehicles and supporting infrastructure. Given the low percentage of availability of EVs in Delhi today, especially in the 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler segment, the electrification mandates appear to be impossible to achieve.”

“Moreover, even if EVs were to be available, lack of supporting infrastructure makes it difficult for drivers to switch to EVs. Therefore, a policy of aggressive electrification targets in a weak supply-side ecosystem will force aggregators and delivery service providers (DSPs) to significantly decelerate their business growth in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and ultimately, this will impact the mobility of people in the NCT of Delhi,” it added.

The draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme, 2023 was unveiled in May, seeking stakeholder comments. While any new riders on boarded by bike taxi platforms will have to be on EVs, two-wheeler delivery services will need to have 50 per cent of their fleet as EVs within two years of final notification, and 100 per cent within four years.

Urging the Delhi government to relax the targets and remove penalties on mandated EV transition, IndiaTech in its submission argued that the scheme puts the responsibility of transition on the platforms, which have no control on the vehicles.

“The vehicles belong to the gig worker, and any intention to switch to EV is at the sole discretion of the gig workers,” it noted.

It added that to comply with this policy, industry members will have to ‘reserve’ nearly 50 per cent gig work in two years and 100 per cent gig work in four years for only those with EVs. Such a provision will lead to barriers to entry towards those persons who cannot afford an EV.  (KNN Bureau)