Helmet, Insurance Cover Mandatory Even For Electric Vehicles, Relevant Provisions Of Motor Vehicles Act Applicable: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has clarified that provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 that are relevant for the purpose of electric vehicles are applicable to them.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that insurance cover and wearing helmet or protective gear is mandatory for e-bikes and that electric vehicles will also be subjected to the requirement of registration and penal provisions in law, as applicable to other vehicles.

The court dismissed a PIL moved by Advocate Rajat Kapoor for making insurance cover compulsory for all electric vehicles, more particularly two wheelers and three wheelers, before they are delivered to the owner-purchaser and brought on road.

“A perusal of Section 2(28) of the MV Act read with Rule 2(u) of the CMV Rules makes it clear that all EVs or battery operated vehicles, unless they fall under the exemptions provided in these provisions, are considered as "motor vehicles" under the MV Act and are governed by the provisions of the MV ActTherefore, 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,” the bench said.

The court noted that the Union Government has already prescribed standards to be followed by manufacturers for batteries to be used in battery operated or electronic vehicles.

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

While rejecting the plea, the court said that the PIL was filed solely on the basis of two news reports and that the claims, allegations and issues raised by Kapoor were “largely unsubstantiated.”

“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.

The bench advised Kapoor and said that it hopes that he will exercise necessary diligence and restraint before filing such PILs in the future.

The plea stated that a plethora of electric vehicles are running on roads and the lack of rules relating to insurance of such vehicles is likely to create a "situation of havoc" in coming days.

In this regard, reference was made to Section 146 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which makes insurance compulsory for all motor vehicles, which including EVs.

“Similar to the motor insurance policy for petrol and diesel vehicles, the EV vehicles insurance policy would offer financial protection to vehicles against liabilities such as accidental damage, fire, natural calamities, riots, theft of the insured vehicle and third-party injuries or damages to their property,” the plea said.

It added that with the emergence of so many new companies which cater only to electric vehicles and the rush of high demand has created an urgent need of a proper legislation "that deals specifically with electric vehicles" both two wheelers and four wheelers.

"As the Comprehensive Plan includes the law-mandated Third-Party Liability Cover also, there would also be a requirement of non-compliance penalties concerning vehicle insurance. For that purpose some amendments may be required to be brought about in the  MV Act. That would also Avoid Expensive Repair Bills," Kapoor said.

Case Title: Rajat Kapoor v. Union of India & Anr.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 828

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