Industry bodies push for relaxation in Delhi EV transition timelines

ET had reported last week about IAMAI’s submission that an aggressive EV transition could impact the livelihoods of gig workers across Delhi who had invested in conventionally powered two-wheelers.

Now, Nasscom, which represents companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Uber, and tech industry lobby group IndiaTech (which represents companies including Ola, Zomato and Zepto) have also flagged the timelines for EV transition.

The draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme, 2023 was unveiled in May, seeking stakeholder comments. While any new riders onboarded by bike taxi platforms will have to be on EVs, two-wheeler delivery services will need to have 50% of their fleet as EVs within two years of final notification, and 100% within four years.

“Targets for adoption of EVs should be in consonance with the availability of vehicles and supporting infrastructure. Given the low percentage of availability of EVs in Delhi today, especially in the 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler segment, the electrification mandates appear to be impossible to achieve,” Nasscom wrote in its submission. ET has reviewed a copy of the industry body’s recommendations to the Delhi government.

“Moreover, even if EVs were to be available, lack of supporting infrastructure makes it difficult for drivers to switch to EVs. Therefore, a policy of aggressive electrification targets in a weak supply-side ecosystem will force aggregators and delivery service providers (DSPs) to significantly decelerate their business growth in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and ultimately, this will impact the mobility of people in the NCT of Delhi,” Nasscom added.

Discover the stories of your interest

Commercial two-wheeler taxi operators have been in a legal kerfuffle with the Delhi government over the past several months now after the state government issued a public notice in February which prohibited the plying of bike taxis in the national capital territory.This was challenged by Uber and Rapido in the Delhi High Court, which stayed the notice, allowing the bike taxis to operate. However, the ban was reimposed after the Supreme Court set aside that order earlier this month.

According to cab aggregator industry estimates, up to 80,000 riders use bike taxis every month across platforms.

Urging the Delhi government to relax the targets and remove penalties on mandated EV transition, IndiaTech in its submission argued that the scheme puts the responsibility of transition on the platforms, which have no control on the vehicles. “The vehicles belong to the gig worker, and any intention to switch to EV is at the sole discretion of the gig workers,” it noted.

“To comply with this policy, industry members will have to ‘reserve’ nearly 50% gig work in two years and 100% gig work in four years for only those with EVs…Such a provision will lead to barriers to entry towards those persons who cannot afford an EV,” it added.

“It should be noted that gig work is something an individual resorts to, to earn supplemental income – for instance, in case they have lost their full-time job and need to earn in the interim. Putting a barrier to gig work will lead to significant loss of livelihood opportunities,” IndiaTech’s submission read.