Delhi High Court issues stay order on Tata Nexon EV delisting by Delhi Government

The Delhi High Court has issued a stay order on the Delhi state government's rule to delist the Tata Nexon EV from subsidies. Earlier this month, the Delhi government announced that after two complaints from customers, it had moved to delist the Tata Nexon EV from the Delhi EV Policy and the subsidies which were entitled to it. The bizarre move came following one complaint from a Nexon EV customer claiming the vehicle did not deliver the promised range by the manufacturer. The government also claimed that a tweet by another Nexon EV owner substantiated the claim.

Delhi’s transport minister, Kailash Gahlot’s tweet confirmed the move of the electric vehicle being removed from the subsidies offered through the Delhi EV Policy 2020. The government claimed that the Nexon EV allegedly offered a “sub-standard driving range”.

However, the government’s move seemed to be puzzling as it came with no formal investigation. Thus, Tata Motors moved to the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court has now issued notice by directing a stay against the delisting of the vehicle until further investigation. The high court has granted time to the Delhi government to file a counter affidavit in regard to the matter. A Tata Motors spokesperson stated: “The Honourable Delhi High Court has issued a notice on our writ and granted interim relief by directing a stay against the delisting of Nexon EV from Delhi Government’s eligible list of vehicles. The Honourable High Court has granted time to the Delhi Government to file counter affidavit in the matter.”

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The Tata Nexon EV is certified to deliver 312 km of driving range on a single charge of its battery pack. The range certification was provided by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which follows a standardized procedure to test and verify vehicles for the certification. These tests are conducted in a controlled laboratory environment, thus real-world conditions may differ as there are multiple variables at play. It is a standardized procedure and format which has been followed by the automobile industry for Internal Combustion Engined (ICE) vehicles as well. The claims made by the users suggested that the Nexon EV did not deliver more than 200 km of range. This was the reason the Delhi government made the move to delist the Nexon EV from the subsidies from the Delhi EV Policy 2020.