Electric vehicles need no permit to go commercial

In a push to green campaign, the Centre on Tuesday allowed plying of electric vehicles as commercial vehicles sans permit.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways hoped that the move would promote electric vehicles and reduce vehicular pollution.

The move came after the state transport ministers' committee headed by Rajasthan Transport Minister Yunus Khan recommended to the Ministry that green vehicles plying as commercial vehicles should be exempt from permit to encourage use of such vehicles.

The Regional Transport Office issues commercial permit to vehicles as per the provisions of Motor Vehicles Act. The types of permits that apply for commercial vehicles include contract carriage bus permit, goods carrier permit and cab permit, among others. The decision to end permit system for electric vehicles means saving owners' time and money, said an official of the Ministry of Transport.

Permit Raj

By ending Permit Raj, the government expects public transport vehicles, including app based cabs like Ola and Uber to run more green vehicles.

The government is aiming at increasing the share of green vehicles to at least 15 % of total vehicles over the next five years.