Ministry of Power, Govt of India, has issued “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles — Guidelines and Standards” in 2018 which were amended from time to time.
On 17th September 2024, after consideration of suggestions received from various stakeholders, there was realisation to bring greater clarity with regards to the applicability of these guidelines to public, semi-public and private charging stations, Power Utilities, Central & State agencies.
Accordingly, revised consolidated guidelines titled “Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure-2024“, has been released.
These guidelines shall supersede all the previous versions issued by Ministry of Power and shall be effective from date of its issuance.
These guidelines shall be applicable to
(i) Manufacturers, owners and operators of EV charging infrastructure located-
a) In private parking spaces,
b) In semi restricted places like office buildings, educational institutions, hospitals, Group Housing Societies, e-bus depots and
c) In public places like commercial complexes, railway stations, petrol pumps, airports, metro stations, shopping arcades, municipal parking and
d) On highways&expressways.
(ii) Power utilities and Central and State agencies.
The recently released guidelines encourages charging of EVs during solar hours. It says- “The Distribution Licensee will charge 0.7 times the Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) during solar hours (9:00 AM to 4:00 PM) and 1.3 times ACoS during non-solar hours (remaining hours of the day”
Moreover the setting up and operation of EV Charging Stations is a de-licensed activity and any entity is free to establish EV Charging Infrastructure by adhering to these guidelines.
For the benefit and timely set-up of charging stations, when a Charge Point Operators applies for an electricity connection for their EV charging stations, the Distribution Licensee must provide the required connection according to the timelines specified under Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020. Under this guideline, the connection in Metropolitan Areas has to be provided in 3 days.
