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Yadav directs departments to compile data on vehicle registrations
The EV policy has drawn sharp criticism from automobile dealers as well as residents ever since it was rolled out on September 20, 2022
Officiating adviser Nitin Kumar Yadav, on Tuesday, directed the concerned departments to submit data on the registration of electric, non-electric, and hybrid vehicles in the city to prepare modalities for amending the EV Policy.
This came a day after the member of parliament (MP) Kirron Kher and city mayor Anup Gupta criticised restrictions imposed on the registration of non-electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers under the electric vehicle (EV) policy in a meeting, convened on November 20, to chalk out the modalities for amending the EV policy.
Yadav said, “I have already directed the concerned departments – registration and licensing authority (RLA), Chandigarh renewable energy and science and technology promotion society (CREST), and regional transport authority (RTA) to compile the data on the registration of electric, non-electric, and hybrid vehicles so that modalities can be worked out for the amendment of the EV policy.” He further stated that a final decision would be taken by the UT administrator before November 27, as the capping on the registration of non-electric two-wheelers had already been removed by then.
The EV policy has drawn sharp criticism from automobile dealers as well as residents ever since it was rolled out on September 20, 2022.
Federation of automobile dealers’ association finance secretary Ram Kumar Garg said, “We request the administrator to remove the capping permanently as it is not seen in any other part of the country. We are not against the EV policy, but it should be encouraged with incentives and by providing infrastructure.”
The administration had stopped the registration of fuel-based two-wheelers on October 29 upon exhausting the quota of 1,609 fixed for such vehicles for 2023-24. The city has 10 automobile dealers who collectively sell around 20,000 non-electric two-wheelers annually, nearly 1,600 each month. During the festival season, this number surges to around 4,000 a month.
Congress lashes out at Kher
Congress lashed out at local MP Kirron Kher for suddenly waking up after a long slumber to the continuous harassment caused to the people of Chandigarh by the flip flop stance of EV policy of Chandigarh administration.
Terming Kher’s statement criticising the EV policy as mere lip service paid to mislead the people in view of the 2024 parliamentary elections, Rajiv Sharma, spokesperson of Chandigarh Congress, stated that Kher should not forget that the Chandigarh administration works under the direct control of the Union ministry of home affairs and any policy decision taken by the administration cannot be made without the approval of the Union ministry. The Congress spokesperson accused Kher of maintaining silence for months together while the administration continued to cause avoidable panic among the city’s residents by banning the registration of a class of fuel-based vehicles, time and again.
