Green tape: Delhi’s policy for EV adoption by gig platforms is too prescriptive
₹80,000, making them an unaffordable proposition. LSEVs, on the other hand, offer an affordable and sustainable solution. Insistence on high-speed EVs makes policy compliance a burden for platform businesses and also reduces the scope of ground-level autonomy, thus making it harder for the market to attain its own efficiency.
Compliance is also a burden for other reasons. Only EVs registered in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi are counted. But all vehicles at the platform’s service, irrespective of what fuel they use, that ply in the NCT of Delhi are required to be uploaded on the government’s portal and paid for.
Since transit across state borders is frequent in the national capital region, this approach is impractical. If platform businesses somehow manage to apply virtual fences along state borders and prevent booking of rides from say, Gurugram to Delhi, it not only means a loss of business but also inconvenience for citizens. Since that can’t be done, the denominator in the EV calculation includes all vehicles being used and is therefore large, while the numerator only has Delhi-registered EVs.
This makes the EV target steep. A prime reason for the rise of gig work is its low entry barrier. This barrier has risen as an unintended consequence of this policy.
Most gig workers own the vehicles they use and are now being forced to buy expensive high-speed EVs, although deliveries can be made with LSEVs. Gig platforms are required to disclose all vehicle details and the driver licences of their gig workers on the Delhi government’s portal by 14 June 2024. But such steep targets and short deadlines can do greater harm than good.
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