Bumpy ride for e-rickshaws likely as transport dept mulls curbs

While preparing the ground to bring them under a tax bracket for causing revenue loss to the government, the state transport department also seeks to clamp down on the unbridled growth of e-rickshaws.

Citing a revenue loss of ₹595 crore from electric vehicles (EVs) in just a year’s period, the transport corporation is awaiting the state cabinet’s nod to impose road tax and registration fees on e-rickshaws.

In a letter to principal secretary (transport) Amrit Abhijat sent a month ago, transport commissioner Chandrabhushan Singh suggested that e-rickshaws, which, at present, follow the UP Electric Vehicles Manufacturing and Mobility Policy of 2022, be brought under the same rules that applied to other vehicles.

The proposal, if accepted, will be a double whammy for e-rickshaws as it may make them pay road tax and registration fees, while also imposing certain rules and regulations for their purchase and operation. So far, no taxes are imposed on the purchase of such three-wheelers.

“...E-rickshaws are currently in the highest numbers. They, too, should be required to pay road tax and registration fees,” said deputy transport commissioner (technical) Vijay Kumar. “Regional transport offices in the state are awaiting a response from the cabinet, as all attempts to control the excessive plying of e-rickshaws have been unsuccessful so far. Moreover, the department cannot continue to bear such losses repeatedly.”

Uttar Pradesh currently has 8,49,300 electric vehicles plying on its roads, of which 6,55,076 or nearly 77% are e-rickshaws.

In his proposal, the transport commissioner said the department lost Rs. 595.22 crore in overall revenue from 3.10 lakh EVs last year. “Of this amount, Rs. 396.47 crore loss was only due to exemption to e-rickshaws from paying road taxes and registration fees,” the commissioner added.

Till July (2024-25), the department suffered losses worth Rs. 170.89 crore from EVs, of which Rs. 98.70 crore was from e-rickshaws, as per official records,

The proposal was sent after a meeting between department senior officials and chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh on August 22 regarding EVs.