In some good news for OEMs and customers, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has notified that EVs will ‘be exempted from the payment of fees for the issue or renewal of registration certificate and assignment of new registration mark.’

The ministry had announced the draft notification in May 2021 to further amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 proposing to exempt Battery Operated Vehicles (BOV) from paying fees for issue or renewal of Registration Certificate (RC) and assignment of new registration mark. The idea is to encourage e-mobility and faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country.

Though many states have waived off registration fees for the green vehicle in their individual EV policies, the current notification will benefit and bring uniformity for EV customers across the country.

Cumulative EV sales for FY2021 came in at 238,120 units, down 19.41 percent compared to FY2020 (FY2020 sales: 295,497). Of course, the fiscal was impacted by series of lockdown across the country to control the spread of Covid-19. Electric two- and three-wheeler sales were at 143,837 units (-5.37%) and 88,378 units (-59%) respectively on a year-on-year basis. The bulk of the electric two-wheeler demand came from low-speed models (103,000 units) in FY2021 while 40,836 high-speed models were bought in the same period.

An analysis by Autocar Professional of the 11 leading electric two-wheeler makers in India revealed that in the first six months of 2021, a total of 29,288 units were sold, thus surpassing total sales of 2020 (25,598 units). With MoRTH further providing impetus in the form of waiver for registration fees for the green vehicles, the EV industry is expected to grow further.