Scooters And One Wheels

Ather electrical scooter is charged within the kitchen of the condo on the fifth ground

Ather electric scooter charging in the kitchen

RWA cites infrastructure restrictions and the risk of fire as reasons against installing an e-charging station in the parking lot

A Bengaluru resident who owns an Ather electric scooter has filed a lawsuit against the Resident’s Welfare Association (RWA) in civil court and received an injunction. The reason for this is that the RWA has not approved the installation of an e-charging station in the club’s car park.

With no other option, Vish Ganti, Vice President (Product Management and GM) of AutoGrid India, went to LinkedIn and cited the difficulties he faced while charging his e-scooter. To protect himself, he dragged the e-scooter into his kitchen-cum-living room on the 5th floor of his apartment complex in Hulimavu on Bannerghatta Road to charge it.

Vish Ganti also shared a photo on LinkedIn showing his Ather electric scooter parked in his apartment while charging from a point in his kitchen. It warns users that no one should imitate this act as it creates the risk of fire and electric shock. He only shared this picture to increase awareness of the EV community.

Petition filed

Faced with such constraints, Ganti has filed a lawsuit against RWA with the Thubarahalli, Kundalahalli, in the city’s civil court. He has also received an injunction for this. The RWA members, however, hold their position and give various reasons for this attitude.

Ather electric scooter charging in the kitchen

Ramesh MS, a manager of the residential complex, says that out of 300 members of society, only 3 own electric scooters. 2 of these owners have replaceable batteries that can be taken home for charging. It is therefore not possible to set up a charging infrastructure for just 1 person. However, he also notes that the association is in the process of making a charging infrastructure available to its residents as soon as a proper survey has been carried out.

Karnataka was the first state to introduce a directive for electric vehicles in 2017. It is also the center of electric vehicle manufacturing with companies like Mahindra Electric, Ather Energy, Ola Electric, Bosch, Simple Energy and Sun Mobility that are in the state. E-scooters are widespread in Bengaluru, and although more and more people are being encouraged to switch from fossil fuels to electric vehicles as a new means of transportation, building a charging infrastructure in residential complexes remains an important issue.

Installation costs

BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) has started to raise awareness on this issue, however the costs involved need to be considered. A charger costs 2,000 rupees, while the cost of connecting to a BESCOM meter is around 11,000 rupees. The question arises of who will bear the cost of the installation when only a few EV users live in the residential complex. The distribution of the invoice amount among the users needs to be clarified as well as the responsibility for the maintenance of the units, the safety of other vehicles and whether or not access to such charging facilities should be extended to visitors.

With the use of electric vehicles still in its infancy, CK Sreenath, Deputy General Manager, Smart Grid and Electric Vehicles, told Bescom that RWAs could turn to them for a shared charging point and electricity at a fixed price of Rs Get 5 per unit.

Vikram Rai, general secretary of the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation, also explains that the use of electric vehicles in residential complexes is still limited. While they are planning a municipal charging infrastructure in 3-4 residential complexes in a pilot project, there are other security restrictions that should be taken into account.

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