This car aficionado revived the hybrid-EV debate; focus now turns to UP’s policy

livemint.com:

₹1 lakh. Bhutani received a favourable order at the very first hearing: he cited the state government's EV policy of 2022, which stated that EVs registered in Uttar Pradesh were eligible for a 100% road tax waiver for the first three years that the policy was in effect. The policy defined EVs as automobiles using an electric motor driven by batteries, ultra-capacitors or fuel cells.

The vehicles include all electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers, plug-in hybrid EVs, battery EVs, and fuel cell EVs. The court asked the state government to refund the road tax Bhutani paid on the Toyota Innova Hycross and Grand Vitara hybrid cars he bought in 2023. Following the judgement on 3 July, the state government issued a directive to all regional transport offices (RTOs) in UP on 5 July, asking them to waive road tax on hybrid cars.

The benefit is significant and depends on the price of the vehicle. Road tax in UP could be 8% for EVs priced above ₹10 lakh and 9% for those priced above ₹20 lakh. The benefit continues even as Tata Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra lobby for price caps to be imposed on vehicles that can receive such benefits.

According to Bhutani, vehicle dealers were unable to waive road tax for hybrid vehicles because their systems hadn't been upgraded by the RTO. Bhutani wrote to the transport commissioner of UP, to the RTO in Prayagraj and other departments to complain about this. When he didn't get a response, Bhutani and another customer, Abhishek Maheshwari, approached a lawyer who filed a writ petition on the matter.