UT stops registering diesel-run buses in city till September 30

All commercial vehicles are registered with the State Transport Authority (STA) in Chandigarh. The STA had set up a target of registering only 50 buses till September 30, the target of which stands approved. After September, the quota of registrations would be made 80 (50 plus 30 new electric buses).

The registrations will begin only on October 1, 2023. At the moment, there are around 3,500 diesel-run buses in the city, which comprise 2,000 school buses, 1,000 tourist and factory buses, and around 550 Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses.

A senior officer of the State Transport Authority (STA) told The Indian Express, “The registration of the buses has been stopped due to the Electric Vehicle Policy 2022. The target has been divided into two parts of six months each. In the first half quota, that is of 50 buses, it stands complete.”

More electric buses to be added

Even the UT Transport Department has planned to add 100 more electric buses to its existing fleet of 80 such vehicles this year. The purchase of the electric buses will give an impetus to the plan of the UT Administration to replace the entire fleet of nearly 350 diesel buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), running on local or suburban routes, with electric ones by 2027-28.

Last 1,500 two-wheeler registrations left

The Chandigarh Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) stated that of the 6,202 two- wheelers to be registered this year, 4,700 have already been registered. The moment the limit is touched, there would be a ban on any further registrations which means by first week of July, there would be an end to the same.

Not just this, the non-electric cars would also be banned for registration by December as the permitted number of such vehicles in the current financial year is expected to be met by then.

UT RLA incharge Pradyuman Singh said, “By first week of July, we will halt the registrations of two-wheelers. Only about 1,500 more can be registered. After achieving the registration targets of the respective non-electric vehicles, their registration (permanent and temporary) will not be allowed in Chandigarh.”

UT Electric Vehicle Policy

In September 2022, the electric vehicle policy became applicable for five years, during which the administration plans to gradually stop registering fuel-run vehicles to dissuade people from buying vehicles that cause pollution.

In the first year of the policy, incentives are being offered for up to 42,000 vehicles of different categories, including 25,000 e-cycles, 1,000 e-bikes, and 3,000 cars.

With the aim of the policy, the administration is looking to reduce the number of fuel-run four-wheelers by 10% and two-wheelers by 35%, compared to the preceding year.