Kathmandu, June 13 -- Four years ago, Umesh Shrestha bought three electricity-powered scooters, for personal and official purposes, in the immediate aftermath of the 2015 border blockade that caused a massive shortage of fuel in the country.

Since using the e-scooters instead of petrol-run motorbikes, he has been saving at least Rs4,000 on fuel expenses every month, according to Shrestha.

"With one-time charge, which hardly consumes one unit of electricity, an e-scooter runs for nearly 70km every day, saving at least Rs200," said Shrestha, who is also the chairperson of the Electric Vehicles Association of Nepal.

"We all were very satisfied with these electric vehicles. We were planning to buy a few more," added Shrestha, who says his ...