Delhi air at risk as aggregators backslide on EVs

New Delhi, October 18 : Delhi’s fight against toxic air is facing a serious setback as major ride-hailing and delivery aggregator platforms quietly roll back their shift to electric vehicles (EVs), despite clear legal mandates requiring them to go green.

The reversal, experts warn, threatens to undo years of progress in the National Capital Region’s (NCR) clean mobility transition and worsen the city’s already perilous air quality.

The government had brought in the Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider (DMVADSP) Scheme, 2023 to make EVs the backbone of the city’s shared mobility network to improve the national capital’s air quality.

The DMVADSP covers the service providers that use a digital platform to manage a fleet of vehicles. This includes Passenger Transport Aggregators such as app-based taxi services, namely Ola, Uber, Rapido, etc; Delivery Service Providers and E-commerce Entities such as Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, etc.

The scheme mandated that all newly onboarded two-wheelers be electric and set a deadline of April 2030 for aggregators to achieve a fully electric fleet. But investigations now reveal that major platforms have begun re-introducing petrol vehicles — including cars, autos, and two-wheelers — under loopholes such as “partner fleet” arrangements or “out-of-Delhi” registrations.

Uber’s withdrawal of its eco-friendly “Uber Green” service following the collapse of EV operator BluSmart has symbolised the trend. Petrol and diesel vehicles are once again dominating aggregator fleets. “What we are seeing is a dangerous backslide,” said an official in Delhi’s Transport Department. “The entire EV mandate is being hollowed out.”

A large share of vehicles operating daily in Delhi are registered in neighbouring NCR cities — Gurugram, Noida, and Ghaziabad — allowing them to skirt Delhi’s EV obligations and enforcement checks. The limited fines imposed so far, typically a few thousand rupees, have failed to deter violations. “For large aggregators, these penalties are a rounding error,” said a policy analyst. “They treat them as a cost of doing business.”

This regulatory gap has prompted calls for decisive intervention by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)— the statutory body empowered to issue binding environmental directions across NCR. Under the CAQM Act, 2021, the Commission can impose fines up to ₹ one crore, levy environmental compensation for polluting activities, and even order imprisonment for non-compliance.

Experts argue that the CAQM must now act to plug enforcement loopholes by introducing a “plate-neutral” rule — treating all vehicles plying in NCR as subject to Delhi EV mandates, regardless of where they are registered. They also recommend a mix of deterrent penalties and positive financial incentives to accelerate EV adoption.

Proposals under consideration include environmental compensation fines calculated per non-compliant vehicle per day, and license suspension for repeat offenders. At the same time, EV-only platforms could be rewarded with priority pick-up zones at airports and metro stations, toll-free travel across NCR, and dedicated fast-track lanes at toll points.

“This is not just about punishing violators,” said an environmental economist. “We need a system that makes it economically rational to go electric. Carrots and sticks must go together.”

If CAQM steps in decisively, experts say, Delhi-NCR could still restore momentum toward its clean mobility goals. But delay, they warn, will mean more exhaust, more smog, and another lost winter of toxic air. “Without urgent, coordinated enforcement,” said the official, “the NCR risks reversing its early EV gains and getting into another decade of toxic air caused by vehicular pollution.”

As winter approaches and pollution levels rise, the stakes could not be higher. For Delhi, where the air often turns hazardous by November, the message is clear: the road to clean air will remain blocked until polluters pay — and clean mobility truly pays off.