The Telangana government has implemented a full tax exemption for electric car users, effective from late 2020 and extending until December 31, 2026.
The Telangana government made a major move to encourage greener modes of transport when it decided to grant full tax exemption on the road tax and registration charges for electric vehicles (EVs). This has been devised to ensure that various stakeholders in the state embrace electric vehicles since they are environmentally friendly in their operation. There is an exemption to purchase the said EVs for two-wheelers, four-wheelers, taxis and other passenger-carrying vehicles, three-seater auto rickshaws, electric light passenger carriers, tractors, and buses.
Scope and Duration of the Exemption
The newly announced policy will remain implemented for the next two years up to the 31st of December, 2026. This tax exemption does not have any limitations to the number of vehicles registered within this period, through which residents may purchase as many electric car as they wish. Furthermore, a lifetime exemption will apply to trolleybuses operated by TSRTC and those used by industries for noncommercial transport. This large dispensation is aimed at increasing the number of registered electric vehicles in the state to the new height of 1.7 lakh, which is equivalent to 5 per cent of the total vehicles’ registration in the state of Telangana.
Goals Behind the Policy
Speaking on the occasion, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, alongside Special Chief Secretary (Transport) Vikas Raj, underlined that this policy aimed at clearing up the city’s air. They seek to avoid facing pollution issues that New Delhi has been experiencing in modern society. The government wants to clear Hyderabad from pollution and other environmental problems by overall environmental targets.
Infrastructure Development and Manufacturer Engagement
As the Telangana government well understood that infrastructure plays a crucial role in setting up this ambitious plan, the state has requested the EV manufacturers to set up required charging points across the states. This intended move is to prevent users of EVs and other EV users from being inconvenienced as the world shifts to electric vehicles. The incumbent Transport, Home, and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) department has ten days to come up with a meeting discussing policy measures.
The History
The current policy is based on an earlier EV policy, established for the years 2020–2030, in which there was a culture of policy implementation inconsistency. The new framework is therefore more operationalized and intended to address the specific requirements of Telangana. To accelerate the scale and speed of development of the EV market significantly, the government has its target of achieving direct financial benefits through raising public awareness.
Environmentally Sustainable Traffic Systems
The efforts made under the Telangana government to launch electric vehicles and remove taxes fully are seen as a revolution to build up environmentally sustainable traffic systems. In this context, using financial incentives for electric vehicle acquisition and corridor development, officials of Telangana target not only the record in terms of registered electric vehicles but also the improved conditions for people. As this initiative continues in the next two years, it will be useful to measure the effects of the measure on new car registrations as well as average emissions in Hyderabad.
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