Despite Delhi’s efforts to encourage women drivers, only 14 women out of 743 applicants for e-autos have been registered since they received the letter of intent. Many blame the tedious paperwork and high-interest rates for not purchasing the three-wheelers.
The AAP-led city government issued the letter to 4,261 individuals, which included 2,855 male applicants and 743 female applicants. They kept putting off our documents. “Out of these 743 applicants, only 14 women have registered their e-autos, while 273 men have done so,” according to official data by the transport department. Shamshon Nesha, a woman applicant said, “In the first place, it was difficult to get the loan processed. We had submitted our documents, but they kept dilly-dallying it.”
“We would check every 15-20 days, but were told that the documents were being processed. We had borrowed Rs 66,000 for the down payment, but after seeing multiple delays, we decided to surrender the letter of intent,” she added. Another applicant, who requested anonymity, stated that the interest rate for an e-auto is very high, making it unaffordable.
Officials from the government claimed that there were supply problems due to a chip problem in the vehicles. This could explain the low interest in the initiative.
The experts also stated that electric autorickshaws were new to the market and the interest rate will be high. However, with time, equilibrium will become possible.
Officials said that the Delhi government will provide a 5% interest subsidy on the purchase of electric autos on loans, along with an incentive of Rs 30,000. This was in addition to the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy which was launched by the Delhi Transport Department for the registration of 4,261 electric autos. Only 33% of the 1,406 electric autos are reserved for women drivers.
Rakesh Aggarwal (President, ChhalakShakti), an autorickshaw union said that the government had not been prepared. “We are in favour of the participation of women in the economy and in running e-autos. But the Delhi government reserved 1,406 e-autos for women without any preparation, and only a meagre 14 vehicles could be registered so far,” he said.
Online applications were open under the scheme last year in October and November. Online applications were invited for the scheme in October and November last year. A total of 19,846 male applications were received against the quota of 2,855 electric autos. 743 female applicants submitted applications against the quota of 1,406 electric autos. The government later issued a statement stating that 663 electric autos were allocated to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), under the women’s quota, this year. Permission to operate through an operator or aggregator was granted.