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The special incentive promised to early birds going for an electric vehicle in Chandigarh will be released within 15 working days of acceptance of application, as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) approved by the administration.
Under the EV policy, which was notified last month and will be applicable for the next five years, an incentive will be offered for up to 42,000 vehicles of different categories, including 25,000 e-cycles, 1,000 e-bikes and 3,000 e-cars (see box).
Only new vehicles bought after September 20, 2022, are eligible for the incentive, for which the application must be submitted with the chief executive officer (CEO) of Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) within three months of purchase.
As the online portal to claim the incentive is pending full release, the cases will be processed offline for the time being. The subsidy will remain in operation through the five-year policy period or till the time the administration decides otherwise and will not be applicable for the government sector.
To promote EVs, the administration will not levy registration fee and road tax for five years, while owners of vehicles running on conventional fuels have to pay both.
UT science and technology secretary Debendra Dalia said, “Through the incentives, we want more and more people to switch to eco-friendly vehicles.”
No registrations for fuel-run two-wheelers, autos after two years
Under the policy, the administration will stop registering fuel-run two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws after two years, and will only register electric bikes and rickshaws to dissuade people from buying vehicles that run on conventional fuels that cause pollution.
The policy also aims to register only 50% conventional cars after four years, while only electric vehicles will be allowed in commercial car and bus category.
“For instance, if we set a target to register 50% EV vehicles in the first year in some category, the registration of vehicles of other modes will be closed at 50%. After that only EV vehicles will be registered. Registrations from previous years will be the considered as the standard,” said a UT official.
While announcing the policy in September, UT adviser Dharam Pal had said, “Our target is to achieve the highest penetration of zero-emission vehicles among all Indian cities in five years.”
No functional public charging station
Even though the UT administration has fixed the charging rates as part of the policy, the city still does not have any operational EV charging station.
EV owners charging their vehicles at home will pay domestic rates, while those charging at public stations will be charged ₹8 per unit for slow or medium charging, ₹10 per unit for fast charging and ₹11 per unit for battery swapping.
But though the central government had sanctioned 48 charging stations for Chandigarh under Phase 1 of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme, none is operational.
An official said it will take another month to get the charging stations going. “The firm to manage the stations has already been selected through a tender. Once the electricity connections are cleared, which will take a month, the charging stations will be opened to the public,” the official added.
How to apply for incentive
The incentives will be processed offline initially till the online portal is made operational
Collect incentive form from Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), first floor, Paryavaran Bhawan, Sector 19-B, Chandigarh
Ready application with the listed documents and submit to the CREST chief executive officer (CEO)
Once the complete application is accepted, an acknowledgment receipt will be given to the applicant
The incentive will be released within 15 working days of acceptance of documents and subject to the availability of funds.
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