The Government of Tamil Nadu on Thursday issued an order stating that all battery-operated Passenger Vehicles (PVs), as defined under clause (u) of rule 2 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, like E-autorickshaws, E-taxis and private EV buses or PVs that are driven on methanol or ethanol fuel, shall be issued permits by the Transport Department without a permit fee.
A communication from the State Government said the registration of EVs plying as passenger transport, like E-autorickshaws, E-taxis, and E-buses, will now commence in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, permits were not being issued to either battery-operated or driven on methanol or ethanol fuel PVs.
It may be recalled that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, had issued a notification in 2018 stating these vehicles were exempted from obtaining a permit to promote green vehicles. As the implementing authority, the Transport Commissioner of the Government of Tamil Nadu had pointed out that without the process of registration and issuing of permits, there will be regulation issues and field problems.
At a roundtable organised by Guidance Tamil Nadu a couple of weeks ago, members of the EV industry apprised the State Industries Minister, Dr TRB Rajaa, who requested the intervention of the Chief Minister to issue appropriate orders at the earliest for facilitative regulation to make battery-operated shared passenger vehicles operational on the ground.
Rajaa said this has plugged an important policy gap and will facilitate the expansion of EV fleets in Tamil Nadu. This amendment will enable the Government to implement its Electric Vehicle Policy 2023 by accelerating the adoption of EVs in Tamil Nadu. “Based on feedback from the industry, we are also working on improving EV charging infra across Tamil Nadu. All these steps are sure to significantly drive up the demand for EV vehicles in the state,” Rajaa added.
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