“We have paid so much in import and other taxes, as well as in business registration and capital expenditure,” says Surendra Manandhar, Managing Director of VMOTO Nepal, an importer of electric two-wheelers. “Why would we not register our scooters for a small amount?” He was responding to a recent government decision to slap a fine of Rs 5,000 on unregistered electric scooters and motorcycles plying the roads.
The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) recently announced mandatory registration for electric two-wheelers. It is in a mood for strict action against unregistered vehicles. “We had to take this action because we found a huge number of unregistered two-wheelers, especially in the Valley,” says Rup Narayan Bhattarai, Director General of DoTM. “We have thus instructed the traffic department to strictly monitor all unregistered electric vehicles”.
There are no hard data on the number of electric two-wheelers in Nepali markets. And although these vehicles have been in Nepal for a few years, their formal registration process started just two years ago. They gained in popularity during the fuel crisis precipitated by the Indian embargo in 2015. Electric two-wheelers have now become vehicles of choice for the increasingly environment-conscious Nepali working class for daily commute.
The department complains that importers and marketers of these vehicles are not registering them. This in turn is causing problems in data management and in making of traffic rules and regulations. For one, unregistered vehicles cannot be tracked in case of accidents and thefts.
No paper, no go
As traffic congestions become routine in our big cities, and import of electric vehicles is on the rise, the department’s decision will affect many electric two-wheeler owners who are using their vehicles without proper documentation.
Manandhar, the importer, on the other hand, blames the department for lack of proper regulations and guidelines for registration of electric two-wheelers. “We have repeatedly tried to get our vehicles registered. It is the department that is apathetic to our request,” says Manandhar.
But NIU Nepal, a relatively new importer of electric two-wheelers, has already received registration approval for the two models it is importing. “We passed all the requirements and now our scooters will get number plates, just like any other two-wheelers operating in Nepal,” says Rakesh Pradhan, Senior Marketing Assistant at NIU Nepal.
If so, NIU Nepal is lucky. While the government has reduced customs (10 percent) on electric vehicles in the past few years, their regulation has not been a priority, discouraging the sales of clean energy vehicles.
The Nepal Electricity Authority for its part is planning to set up charging stations for electric vehicles at different places to promote the use of clean energy vehicles. But all such efforts will come to a naught without clear plans and policies to make electric two-wheelers convenient for end users and without supporting businesses importing these vehicles.
