Jan 28, 2019
While more people are making the switch to electric scooters as the cost savings over their petrol powered brethren are substantial, they have failed to set the sales chart on fire.
The government is looking to encourage more sales of electric scooters by waiving excise duty on the import of e-scooters and only charges 10 percent customs duty.
Similarly, the government has also completely waived the annual tax and 50 percent rebate on road improvement tax on e-scooter. These moves have been paying off.
According to the Department of Transport Management, more than 200 e-scooters have been registered till date in Province-3. Mohan Prasad Chapagain, the department’s officer tasked with looking after the two-wheeler segment said that new e-scooter brands have already registered with the department while existing brands are in the process of registering.
Domestic e-scooter dealers said that the waiver in the import of spare parts of e-scooters from the government side could help in boosting sales of e-scooters. There are around 10 e-scooter brands in the country.
Minimal servicing costs due to less moving parts, annual tax waiver, a one-time full charge range of up to 80 km, ability to be charged anywhere, availability of spare parts are some of the main advantages of e-scooters, said dealers.
Domestic e-scooter dealers also attribute the advanced technology being used in electric scooters as the major selling point.
E-scooters are comparatively cost effective compare to fuel guzzling scooters as e-scooters can save up to Rs35,000—45,000 in a year, said Pranayna KC, CEO at Eco-Infinity, the authorised distributor of NIU e-scooters the country.
She highlighted that to travel 80km, it takes three to four litres of petrol which costs
more than Rs400 while it costs only Rs55 to travel the same distance on an e-scooter.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
