Prevailing rules on mandatory insurance cover, helmets for 2-wheelers extend to EVs: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday clarified that provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, are applicable to electric vehicles (EVs).

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that insurance coverage, wearing helmets or protective gear, registration, and penal provisions in the law apply to electric vehicles, just as they do to other vehicles.

The bench was dealing with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to make insurance coverage compulsory for all electric vehicles, especially two-wheelers and three-wheelers, before they are delivered to the owners.

The court said that according to Section 2(28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, read with Rule 2(u) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, all EVs or battery-operated vehicles are considered "motor vehicles" under the law. Therefore, they are subject to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, including mandatory insurance, registration, and the requirement to wear protective gear.

"... all the provisions under the MV Act and the CMV Rules pertaining to requirement of registration, mandatory insurance cover, wearing of protective headgear, penal provisions etc. are applicable to EVs," it said.

The court also noted that the Centre has already established standards for batteries used in electric vehicles.

While dismissing the PIL, the court criticised the petitioner for filing a frivolous petition and advised exercising more diligence and restraint before filing such cases in the future.

"Had there been some due diligence exercised and research done on the part of the petitioner, it would have been apparent that the issues raised by the petitioner in the instant PIL have already been addressed through relevant statutes, rules and notifications. Such frivolous PILs instead of enabling access to justice, actually hinder it by wasting precious judicial time," the court said.

It also directed the Delhi government to continue to ensure that the subsidy offered by it for electric vehicles registered in the national capital are being duly disbursed in a timely manner.