Just two days after the administration stopped registering fuel-based two-wheelers with an aim to promote the use of electric vehicles, UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit flagged off 52 petrol bikes on Monday, drawing criticism from city-based automobile dealers.
The bikes, which are an addition to the UT police’s fleet, have been acquired from Hero Motor Private Limited as part of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
Ram Kumar Garg, finance secretary of the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association, Chandigarh, said, “This shows the UT’s double standards. On one hand, they are banning fuel-based vehicles for the common man, on the other, they are exempting themselves from it.”
Echoing similar views, Balwinder Singh Oberoi, a dealer of Royal Enfield motorcycles in Sector 27, said, “The administration wants people to buy vehicles of their (administration’s) choice. By banning fuel-based vehicles, they are compelling us to shut down our businesses, which we built with years of hard work and investment of crores of rupees.”
Transport director Pradhuman Singh said that the 52 vehicles flagged off on Monday had been registered with the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) before the ban.
{{/usCountry}}Transport director Pradhuman Singh said that the 52 vehicles flagged off on Monday had been registered with the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) before the ban.
{{/usCountry}}A senior police officer further said, “We got the bikes under CSR. The registration of these bikes was completed on October 6, a day before the registration of non-electric vehicles was halted. Besides, all police and emergency vehicles are excluded from the electric vehicle (EV) policy.”
The UT, on October 7, had halted the registration of non-electric two-wheelers after reaching the annual target of such vehicles permitted in 2023 under the Electric Vehicle Policy. Now, only electric two-wheelers will be registered in the city until April 2024. The decision had sparked strong resentment among city-based automobile dealers who were anticipating substantial business during the upcoming festive season. Approximately 20,000 non-electric two-wheelers are sold each year in Chandigarh, with around 1,600 sold each month, and 4,000 vehicles being bought during the festive season alone.
The UT had introduced its EV Policy in September 2022, which is applicable for five years. During this period, the administration plans to gradually cease registering fuel-run vehicles to discourage people from buying vehicles that contribute to pollution.
Similarly, in the case of ICE four-wheelers, new registrations will cease once the number reaches 15,465, a milestone that RLA expects to reach by November. So far this year, 13,776 such four-wheelers have already been registered in the city, leaving room for only 1,689 more.