Due to rising fire incidents from environmentally-friendly vehicles concerning potential buyers, India is preparing comprehensive guidelines for the electronic vehicle (EV) industry.

Several incidents of fire accidents occurring to electric scooters, have raised the government’s concerns affecting India’s nascent EV ecosystem, including the ambitious boost for electric mobility.

Operation and maintenance of EVs, related infrastructure, standard operating protocols that must be followed in case of vehicles such as fires and special rules for recalling electric two-wheelers, will be covered under the new guidelines.

The SOP is expected to help educate people about what should be done and what should not be done when dealing with fire accidents.

Additionally, the guidelines are expected to possess a recall policy for two-wheeler EVs that are framed through their technical specifications.

However, under the mandatory recall policy for all vehicles that took place last month, a car can be recalled based on two factors. One is the number of complaints received for defects in the vehicle and the other, annual sales of a particular vehicle model.

Mostly, car manufacturers are said to warn vehicles to replace or repair faulty components or parts that can jeopardize safe operations. They are also said to seek recalls if investigations reveal that road accidents involving EVs were due to faulty or low quality parts, including lithium ion batteries that form the heart of these vehicles.

Following a fire in Tamil Nadu that claimed the lives of two individuals, requests for official regulation of this developing sector have intensified as a number of organisations, ranging from tiny businesses and startups to giant automakers, have entered the market.

This policy covers electric two-wheelers and tricycles, recent incidents have compelled the government to lower the threshold for recalling cars if there are electric two wheelers, in an effort to prevent public negative remarks over EVs, as a result of manufacturing defect or improper operation.

The government should set guidelines in terms of safety, temperature, charging, and cooling, according to Amit Kumar, partner and head, electrical mining and utilities at PwC India. He also remarked that India's Standards Bureau should develop battery standards for the country.

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road and Toll Transport, said the government had ordered forensic investigations into each incident by experts from the Defense Research and Development Organization's Center for Fire, Explosion, and Environmental Safety and the Institute of Science India in Bangalore.