EV Owner Goes To Supreme Court After RWA Delays Permission For Home Charger
The acceptance of electric vehicles has increased sharply in the past few years, especially in cities. Charging infrastructure (read: DC charging stations) has also been developing fast. Recently, however, many EV owners have been raising concerns around the feasibility of home chargers. These particularly apply to those living in gated communities, flats and apartment complexes. In many cases, EV owners are unable to set up home chargers. One such case from Greater Noida is rather interesting. A 41-year-old professional was reportedly unable to install a private charger in his parking lot after the society management allegedly kept sitting on his request. Frustrated, this EV owner has now approached the Supreme Court for a resolution.
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The petitioner in this case is Rachit Katyal, a flat owner in Greater Noida’s Nirala Estate. This complex has 4,000 apartments. According to Katyal, there are 56 EVs in his society, including his and just two charging points! One of these is 7kW unit while the other is a slower 3kW point. Katyal claims that even these are ‘sold to other flat owners’ and it is nearly impossible for others to use them.
He thus wanted to install a third EV charging point at his parking lot- a private one which he can use at his convenience. He submitted a request for the same to the society management. Katyal claims that the management there kept sitting on the same, effectively making him unable to do the installation.
“I was planning to buy an EV but I was concerned about the lack of charging infrastructure in my housing society. My sister-in-law, who lives with us and has an EV, is facing problems over this,” Katyal said. He is into aquarium trade business and reportedly has ‘odd working hours’. This makes things even worse. He says that it is nearly impossible to rely on public chargers, as they would mostly be occupied when he got off work.
There is even a commercial charging station within his society. The guns there, he says would always be occupied, given the high EV count there. He often has to wait for long and endure uncertain charging times. All these made him think of having a private charger.
“I was particularly keen on having a personal charging point, so I would not have to depend on shared or external infrastructure and avoid inconvenience in day-to-day usage. However, I faced resistance in getting approval for this,”- said Katyal. He reportedly sent several emails to the management over a period of six months, but no approval was issued.
The first of these went out on May 26, 2025. In it, Katyal requested to install a ‘certified EV charger, adhering to all necessary safety and electrical compliance standards’ at his own expense. He also said that he would bear all usage expenses. This means he would ensure electricity supply through his existing meter or a separate sub-meter. This adheres with the guidelines for installation and operation of private EV chargers, issued by the Ministry of Power in September 2024.
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The first mail got a response from the property management saying that the request had been ‘forwarded to the upper management’. He did not, however, get a response from the upper management. Months went by and Katyal grew frustrated.
In July, he wrote another mail saying ‘It’s now 2 months since I have applied… many states have a policy for society to provide NOC within 7 Days… make sure now you don’t create any last minute chaos’. According to Katyal’s claims, the society remained non-committal to this and maintained they were ‘ exploring the possibility of space’.
In December, Katyal sent a third mail saying that the lack of home-charging was affecting his ‘health, sleep and daily routine’. Home-charging is still the backbone of EV ownership in India. The lack of it can land EV owners in trouble. Fully depending on DC chargers can be frustrating and draining in multiple ways. It is simply not practical.
Frustrated, Katyal approached the Supreme Court for a resolution, and is now at the centre of a legal battle. A petition was filed through advocate Sriram Parakkat. It relied on the Centre’s ‘Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure-2024’ and requested a resolution from the apex court.
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the centre and Uttar Pradesh government, seeking their respective responses on the case. The case will be heard again on May 22, 2026.
Source: Indian Express