Registration of fuel bikes likely to be stalled in June as part of 2022 Chandigarh EV policy Chandigarh : The Chandigarh administration, in a move towards environmental protection, is all set to stall the registration of non-electric two-wheeler motor vehicles from June 1, 2023, as the targets set under the 2022 EV Policy are likely to be fulfilled by that time. Towards this, the UT administration issued a notification in September 2022, that the EV policy would be applicable for five years.
The policy is being implemented to stop the registration of fuel-driven vehicles gradually to prevent people from buying polluting vehicles. In the first year of the EV (electric vehicles) policy, incentives were offered to up to 42,000 vehicles of various categories including 25,000 e-cycles, 1,000 e-bikes and 3,000 cars. Through this, the administration is considering reducing the number of fuel-powered four-wheelers by 10 per cent and two-wheelers by 35 per cent as compared to the previous year.
Following this, the impact of the EV policy on jobs in the automobile sector came up for scrutiny. There were around 17 showrooms and 60 to 70 employees were working in every showroom with a total of around 1,100 people in the city. Due to the implementation of the EV policy, the employment of all of them will be affected.
At the same time, it may be difficult to use an electronic vehicle in a city like Chandigarh. Because now summer has started. There may be more power cuts in the coming days. Where people are not getting electricity in their homes. How can you get electricity for a vehicle over there? At the same time, the second biggest disadvantage is when this electric vehicle is felt.
Sales and marketing head Ranjan, manager of Honda Bike, said that due to the closure of registration of petrol bikes, the customer has other options and they will go to Mohali and Panchkula to get their vehicles registered. At the same time, the showroom owner has no other option, he said and added that at present they had a stock of around 500 petrol bikes.
Ranjan said that if the EV policy was implemented, the shopkeepers may have to face heavy losses. Last year, some showrooms in Chandigarh sold their stock to the showroom owners of Punjab and Haryana at the same price due to the closure of the registration process for more than 40 days, he added. About electric vehicles, he said if the battery was overcharged, there might be an explosion and if the battery got damaged, then it would have to be replaced.
Ranjan said that there was still a lack of awareness of the use of electric vehicles. Before implementing this rule in Chandigarh, there was a necessity to make people aware of the pros and cons of electric vehicles. Only after that, the electric vehicle policy should be implemented, he added.
