Electric autos to start plying soon in Delhi, 33% quota for women drivers
Delhi will soon see thousands of electric autos plying on its city roads. The computerised draw of lots was held today for allotment of 4261 E-autos and the Transport Department will soon start the process of issuance of Letter of Intent (LOI) to all successful applicants.
The Supreme Court in a landmark decision on 11th February, 2022 had allowed the Delhi Government to resume the process of registration of 4261 e-autos in the capital, said the government.
The scheme was earlier halted due to a lawsuit filed in the court on the government’s decision to allow electric autos in place of CNG within the 1 lakh cap on autos that the Supreme Court had mandated, it said.
This judgment in favour of Delhi Government will further benefit in reducing vehicular pollution in the city.
Delhi Transport Department in October, 2021 had launched a scheme for registration of 4261 e-autos of which 33 per cent, i.e., 1406 e-autos as exclusively reserved for women drivers. To provide visibility and to ensure compliance and prevent misuse of the scheme, the department had also notified special colour scheme for these autos, normal e-autos in blue and women driven autos in Lilac. The department had also organized a 7 day E-Auto Mela at the Institute of Driving, Training and Research (IDTR) at Sarai Kale Khan and Loni to create awareness about the e-autos and test drives.
Within a span of less than a month, Delhi had received 20,589 applications in total out of which 19846 were in the male category. A single common computerized draw of lots through randomization process was held on 14.2.2022 (Monday) by the Transport Department for selection of 2855 male applicants along with 285 extra applicants to cater to a 10% waitlist. The randomized draw was held under the supervision of a Committee comprising senior officials of Transport Department and special invitee from the Department of Women and Child Development. To maintain transparency, result of the draw of lots of successful applicants, including waitlisted applicants has been displayed on the website of Transport department www.transport.delhi.gov.in . In addition, the list of applicants with deficiencies in applications will also be put up so that they get a chance to rectify the errors before allotment. The LOI to the first list of successful male applicants and 743 women applicants will be given by 28th February, 2022.
The successful applicants would be required to purchase the TSR and apply for registration on the Single Window portal of CESL before 30.04.2022. Failing this, the LOI will be deemed to be surrendered and included in the waiting list. The registration of the e-autos will only be allowed for persons having a valid PSV badge and on production of LOI.
The department has also taken a leap forward in enabling a hassle free ownership/ leasing process for e-autos. The LOI holder can purchase the e-auto from authorized dealers through single window system- www.myev.org.in developed by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) wherein the dealer will act as single window interface for booking, completion of registration formalities. With this system, the LOI holder will get all information on a single platform about the approved e-auto models, prices, features, subsidy components and financing banks and NBFCs. The Delhi EV policy in addition to subsidy provides 5% interest subvention on loans and all information about payment of EMIs, balance loan and interest subvention claims etc. The LOI holder can also have co-ownership with a fleet operator/aggregator who can purchase the e-auto through a lease agreement with a willing LOI holder. This will ease financial burden on an e-auto owner and enable them to get ready access to the vehicle.
Out of the 1406 e-auto rickshaws that have been reserved for women applicants, 743 female applicants had applied who will be directly eligible for the scheme and will be issued the LOIs subject to removal of deficiency in some cases where applications are found deficient on certain accounts. To promote more women drivers, it was decided to hold a second round and invite fresh applications for the balance 663 e-autos reserved for women and hold a special draw of lots. In case the remaining slots still remain un-allotted, that the LOI for the remaining 663 e-autos from the women quota will be allotted to the DMRC with the permission to operate these e-autos through an aggregator/operator with a further condition that the same shall be driven by only the women drivers deployed by DMRC as part of last mile connectivity. It was also decided that post allotment in the woman quota, transfer of e-auto rickshaw should be permitted subject to the restrictions of five years only to a woman auto driver.
Speaking on the decision, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said: “Special features like the single window system of subsidy disbursement and interest subvention along with a provision for co-ownership with fleet aggregators will make the whole process of registering and owning an e-auto extremely simple. This will also set many e-auto owners free from the clutches of unorganized creditors and financiers. We have also been very uncompromising on the decision that 33% of new registrations would be reserved for women, which is why we will be reopening applications for women. Apart from the colour differentiation, strict enforcement would also be put in place once these autos start running on our roads to ensure that this benefit given to women drivers does not get misused by male drivers. Our aim is to make a public transport system which is conducive for women passengers and the most effective step to do that is to create a system steered by women themselves. This was also the rationale behind reducing the height and HMV duration for women bus drivers too. Delhi will continue to empower it’s women both socially and financially.”
