New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to grant necessary approvals to its transport department for opening a new bank account to ensure the timely disbursement of subsidies under the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, 2020. The current EV policy-first introduced in 2020 and lapsed in August 2023-has been extended multiple times since, and offers a range of incentives, including purchase subsidies for electric two-wheelers, e-rickshaws, e-carts and electric cars (for commercial use), along with scrapping incentives and interest subvention on loans. It currently offers a purchase incentive of 25% (up to Rs.5,500) for e-cycles, Rs.30,000 for e-rickshaws and e-carts, and Rs.5,000 per kWh of battery capacity (capped at Rs.30,000) for two-wheelers. Light electric commercial vehicles are also eligible for a subsidy of Rs.30,000. The government, in July, extended the policy by four months. A bench comprising chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that the government could not justify delays in subsidy payments by citing the policy's lack of fixed timelines for disbursement. This was after the Delhi government's lawyer, Sameer Vashisht, drew the court's attention to an RTI reply by the Delhi transport department's public information officer, which said that 78,158 beneficiaries had received subsidy to the tune of Rs.179.35 crore, and Rs.48.36 crore was yet to be disbursed. The RTI reply attributed the delay to the process of setting up a new bank account for direct subsidy transfers....