The state government on Tuesday said a regional transport authority (RTA) permit would not be required for e-vehicles used as public transport or to ferry goods, a move aimed at promoting the environment-friendly mode of transportation.
A transport department notification said owners of “battery-operated vehicles” will have to make a declaration on the Vahan portal of the Union ministry of road transport and highways about the route and the area where they would ply their vehicles.
“This order implies that anyone who buys an electric vehicle and registers it as a commercial vehicle will no longer need a permit to operate,” said an official of the transport department.
The Central Motor Vehicles Rules (1989) defines “battery operated vehicles” as a vehicle “adapted for use upon roads and powered exclusively by an electric motor whose energy is supplied exclusively by battery installed in the vehicle.”
Such vehicles emit no exhaust and do not contain liquid fuel components like a fuel tank, fuel pump or a fuel line.
“The state government has been pressing for a zero-emission transportation system and this move (permit exemption for e-vehicles) is a step in that direction,” the transport department official said.
