Supreme Court Asks Union To File Status Report On Policy To Promote Electric Vehicles & Provide Charging Infrastructure

In a PIL seeking promotion and implementation of electric vehicle policies, the Supreme Court recently asked the Union to file a status report regarding policy decisions taken by it to promote electric vehicles and provide infrastructure to facilitate their use."Learned Attorney General for India seeks and is granted four weeks' time to place on record the policy decision taken by the Union of India from time to time for promoting the electric vehicles and also for setting-up of the requisite infrastructure to facilitate the consumers of electric vehicles," the Court stated in its order. The matter will be next heard on May 14.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order, after hearing Advocate Prashant Bhushan (for petitioners) who alleged that in 2012, the Centre had targeted to have about 70 lakh electric vehicles on road by the year 2020, however even in 2025, the numbers stand at only 35 lakhs.Further, Bhushan contended that there are over 26 crore fossil fuel-run vehicles on road, which contribute to pollution and harm the environment. It was also claimed that besides a few subsidies on purchase of EVs, the government has done nothing to build infrastructure for charging the EVs. "In 2012, the target to provide 2.27 lakh charging centres for EVs has woefully fallen short as only 27000 charging stations have been setup. Why can't every parking lot have multiple charging stations for EVs", Bhushan asked.In response, the bench observed that besides government policies, use of electric vehicles also depends on market forces, public trust and capacity to buy.Justice Kant also reportedly noted that the car manufacturing industry is one of the largest in India and it not only generates good revenue, but also provides employment to a substantial workforce.Ultimately, the Union, represented by Attorney General R Venkataramani, was asked to submit a report on the policies implemented by it to promote EVs and for setting-up of the requisite infrastructure to facilitate the consumers of EVs.Earlier, in 2020, the Court had noted that the issues raised had an impact on environment not only in NCR, but the whole country. As such, it called for assistance from the parties on the following points:(i) Procurement of electric vehicles;(ii) Providing charging ports; (iii) Feebate system, i.e, imposing fee on vehicles with high emissions and providing a subsidy on electric vehicles;(iv) Use of hydrogen vehicles; (v) Any other alternate means of power for vehicles;(vi) Overall impact on import and environment. BackgroundThe PIL was filed in 2019 by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, Common Cause, and SitaRam Jindal Foundation.The petitioners submit that the fundamental rights of citizens to health and a clean environment under Articles 14 and 21 are being violated due to the government's inaction in mitigating the impact of climate change and air pollution, partly attributable to emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles. “government has abdicated its duty to protect the citizens right to health and clean environment under Article 14 and Article 21. Governmental apathy in suitably implementing the recommendations of its own agencies has led to spiraling emissions from fossil fuel-based vehicles contributing to the problems of Climate Change and Air Pollution turning our cities into virtual 'gas chambers'”.The petitioners seek directions to the Centre to implement the recommendations of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020, promulgated in 2012 by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, and the recommendations of the Zero Emission Vehicles: Towards a Policy Framework, promulgated in September 2018 by the Niti Aayog.They further seek directions to the respondents to adopt the best practices of international community incentivizing Demand Creation and Charging infrastructure such as preferential parking, exemption from paying toll, subsidizing private ownership of charging infra structure, providing for fast as well as normal charging infrastructure at parking spaces, mandating charging infrastructure in private apartments etc. It is contended that the government's failure to suitably implement these recommendations is the direct cause of high air pollution levels in Indian cities, which have severe negative health impacts on citizens, especially children.The petition highlights that the burning of fossil fuels contributes significantly to the buildup of greenhouse gases, leading to global warming, climate change, and air pollution.The petitioners have specifically sought for measures to create assured demand for electric vehicles by government fleets and public transportation, provide demand-side incentives to consumers to bridge the initial cost gap for acquiring electric vehicles, develop requisite charging infrastructure for buses at depots and adequate charging facilities in cities, encourage private investment in charging infrastructure, mandate charging facilities in...

Supreme Court Asks Union To File Status Report On Policy To Promote Electric Vehicles & Provide Charging Infrastructure

Debby Jain

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