In February 2023, the Chandigarh administration suddenly banned the registration of all petrol-powered two-wheelers in the region for FY22-23. According to the official order, two-wheelers sold on or after 10 February 2023 would not be registered in Chandigarh till 31 March 2023. Proper implementation of the Union Territory’s (UT) EV Policy, which was notified in September 2022, was given as the reason behind this rather strict move.
The EV policy, which details a five-year plan of action, aims to add a 10% share of electric four-wheelers and a 35% share of electric two-wheelers to the total number of new vehicles registered in the Union Territory by the end of its first year of implementation. Thus, to achieve this target, the Chandigarh administration decided to cap the registration of non-electric vehicles for each fiscal year. Once this target was met for petrol two-wheelers for FY22-23, the administration announced the February ban. This move is also in line with the UT’s aim of gradually phasing out the registration of fuel-powered vehicles entirely.
However, in October this year, an incident allegedly revealed the Chandigarh administration’s ‘double standards’ in implementing the EV policy. On 7th October, the region’s Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) once again stopped the registration of non-electric two-wheelers after reaching the annual target of such vehicles permitted in FY23-24. This means that only electric two-wheelers will be registered in the city until April 2024.
But just two days after announcing this ban, City Administrator Banwarilal Purohit was seen flagging off 52 petrol-powered bikes that have joined the city’s police fleet. The move received major backlash from the region’s non-electric two-wheeler dealers, alleging that the state had gone against its own directive on the matter and it was wrong on the city’s part to let such automotive dealers suffer losses. On the other end, Transport Director Pradhuman Singh claimed these 52 bikes were registered with the region’s RLA before the ban came into effect. However, protesters did not seem to buy the reasoning.
Now, of course, it’s all hearsay, as the transport department is not expected to show proof that the police bikes were actually registered before the ban. And even if it turns out to be true, the region’s non-electric two-wheeler dealers will try their best to cash in on the opportunity to further their agenda, that of being allowed to continue the sale of petrol-powered two-wheelers.
But the UT’s administration did something just a day or two after this incident that sort of paints a guilty picture of it. Out of the blue, a senior official from the UT’s administration announced that the 7th October ban is likely to be reconsidered. While the reason behind this reconsideration has been given as the upcoming festive season, it seems like the administration is trying to appease the protesters by giving them temporary relief.
Moreover, this method of simply banning the registration of new petrol-powered vehicles is far from ideal. Not only will this lead to widespread resentment among the dealer community, but it will also expose dealers to significant losses and soon, they run the risk of going out of business entirely. And the biggest loophole of this approach is that Chandigarh residents can continue purchasing and using new petrol-powered vehicles despite the ban – they simply need to get their new vehicle registered in a neighbouring region of the state outside of Chandigarh!