Delhi Premium Bus Aggregator Policy Exempts E-Buses From Licence Fee

Delhi Notifies Premium Bus Aggregator Policy, Allows Aid For E-Buses

The Delhi transport department issued its Premium Bus Aggregator Policy to pave the way for pre-booking of buses and aggregation. The new rules will govern the licensing of premium buses and their operation in the territory of Delhi.

The notification defined an aggregator as “a digital intermediary or a fleet owner or a marketplace for a passenger to connect with a driver for the purpose of transportation. It can be a person/entity, either of the fleet owner or an operator having an agreement with Contract Carriage Permit holder for the use of the vehicle as a whole and not for a part thereof.”

The transportation department laid down special incentives to promote the usage of electric buses (e-buses) under the premium bus aggregator scheme. As per the mandate of the new policy, Delhi will allow registration of only electric buses under the scheme from January 1, 2025, with a complete bar on entertaining CNG buses or another category of buses. 

As per the Delhi Motor Vehicles Licensing of Aggregator (Premium Buses) Scheme 2023, the licence holder would need to maintain a fleet of a minimum of 25 premium buses, operational within 90 days from the date of grant of licence. The licence will be valid for a period of five years.

“The license holder at the time of applying for the license under this scheme shall have the mandatory experience for at least 03 years for operating/managing/ the vehicles in public transport/shared transportation along with following mandatory requirements fleet of minimum 100 passenger buses during the last three financial years (each year), a fleet of minimum 1000 passenger cars during the last three financial years (each year) or in case of a mixed fleet of passenger cars and buses, the total minimum fleet must be equal to at least 100 buses. For this purpose, 10 cars would be deemed to be equal to 1 bus,” the rules read. 

The rules said electric premium buses would be exempted from license fees. On the other hand, the rules said that for the license grant, applicants, others than e-bus players must pay a total of Rs 5 lakh. In addition, they have to also pay an interest-free security deposit of Rs 1 lakh for 100 buses, Rs 2.5 lakh for 1000 buses, and Rs 5 lakh for more than 1000 buses. 

It also allowed the licensees to decide the route and fare. However, it has put some conditions in the decision on the fare ceiling. 

“The license holder shall be at liberty to prescribe a suitable fare structure for any route/ destination. The fare shall be displayed on the mobile and web-based application for the information of the general public. Dynamic pricing shall be permissible provided that the base fare shall not be less than the peak fare of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) Air Conditioned buses. Only pre-booked digital ticketing will be permissible and no physical tickets shall be issued,” the rules said.