Businessmen have said that even though the law to convert vehicles from fuel to electricity has been passed twice, its facility has not been utilized due to lack of standards. The government had adopted a policy to convert petroleum vehicles to electric ones by publishing a notification in the gazette on 14 Chaitra 2078.

The government has recently issued a notice allowing conversion for another 3 years. On 15 Mangsir, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport issued a notice stating that ‘the government has decided to exercise the authority granted by Section 176 of the Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 2049, and to waive the restrictive clause of Section 39, Sub-section (2) of the same act for three years, and to ‘give exemption to vehicles whose fuel system is modified to be environmentally friendly or energy efficient.’ 

Even after conversion, if no approval is received, the businessmen are forced to keep the vehicles in the workshop.  The businessmen had initiated the process of obtaining approval from the Department of Transport Management or the concerned Transport Management Office for conversion as per the notice issued by the government. However, the Transport Office has not been able to give approval as per the government’s policy of converting petroleum vehicles to electric ones.

They say that the government has not developed the criteria for converting vehicles, including the blue book, vehicle registration and numbering, and therefore could not give approval, seeing that it would be problematic. Sub-section 1 of Section 39 of the Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 2049 prohibits the modification of vehicles in such a way as to change the color, number of seats, shape, engine or chassis of the vehicle. However, in the same Sub-section 2, it is mentioned that if a modification is required under Sub-section (1), the authorized officer may request approval and grant approval after necessary investigation and if he/she deems it appropriate to make such modification.

The government has also brought a policy to convert petroleum vehicles into electric vehicles by exercising the authority under Section 176 of the Act. Notwithstanding anything else written in Section 176 of the Act, it is mentioned that the Government of Nepal may grant exemptions so that any provision of this Act shall not apply to any vehicle for a specified period. The government had given a time limit of 3 years when publishing the notification in the Gazette on 14 Chaitra 2078.

Even though the information came for the first time, the procedures and standards related to conversion have not been established, so the next government will not accept the information brought by the interim government, said Abhishek Karki, founder and CEO of Abhiyantriki Karmshala. ‘Before, the information had been published in the gazette allowing conversion, but since other standards could not be established, it remained limited to the information,’ he said, ‘We had also converted tractors and elephant vehicles. But we could not take them on the road without government approval.’

Karki said that although the standards should have been brought, including the registration of the conversion company, permission for the company bringing the conversion goods, and what to do in the blue book after conversion, they have not been brought yet. ‘We are also working to bring standards, but nothing has been done,’ he said. Karki said that only after allowing the converted vehicles to run on the road will it be known whether they are successful or unsuccessful. ‘Even if the government brings the information for the second time and does not establish any standards, it will be the same whether they come or not,’ he said.