600 W E-Scooter Draft: Used Buyer Check

Some electric scooters in India are not motor vehicles in the eyes of the law. They need no registration, no number plate, no driving licence and no compulsory insurance, because they fall under a narrow exemption in Rule 2(u) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. On 21 August 2026 the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) published a draft that would widen that exemption. According to the reports we could find, the 25 km/h speed cap would stay, the 60 kg unladen-weight ceiling would go, and the motor-power limit would rise to 600 W. For a used-scooter buyer the draft matters for one reason above all: a scooter that qualifies has no RC and no VAHAN record, so the Rs. 99 RC check has nothing to look up. The risk is the scooter that is sold as exempt and is not.

What the Draft Says, and What Is Still Unclear

MoRTH issued the draft on 21 August 2026 to substitute Rule 2(u) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. That rule defines the battery-operated vehicles that are not treated as motor vehicles when a testing agency verifies their limits. Autocar Professional, Entrepreneur India and GKToday all date the draft to 21 August, and all report that the unladen-weight ceiling of 60 kg is proposed for removal while the 25 km/h maximum speed stays. A June 2026 Autocar India report had already described the existing limits as 250 W of motor output, 60 kg unladen weight and 25 km/h top speed, and said industry sources expected the norms to be loosened.

The power figure is where the reports part ways, and a buyer should know that. GKToday and a 13 September report from The Hindu BusinessLine, as summarised by RetailIntel, say the exempt motor-power limit would rise from 250 W to 600 W. Autocar Professional and Entrepreneur India describe the 600 W (0.6 kW, rated over 30 minutes) as a limit the draft retains, and focus only on the weight change. We have not been able to read the draft text itself, so this article uses 600 W as the figure most reports give and flags that it is reported, not confirmed from the notification.

The draft also says, per GKToday, that covered vehicles must meet the safety requirements in Annex A of AIS-049, with compliance verified by an authorised testing agency under AIS-041. Those are automotive industry standards for electric vehicles and for testing and certification. We found no published detail of what Annex A requires, so we do not describe its contents here.

Industry Is Split: Yulu Objects, BGauss Sees Growth

The draft has divided the people who build and run these vehicles. Yulu, the shared-mobility operator, filed objections. Its argument, reported by Autocar Professional and Entrepreneur India, is that vehicle mass decides how severe a collision is, and that weight is the one limit nobody can change with a switch. A top-speed limit lives in a controller and can be altered by software; a kilogram figure cannot. Yulu told the publications that some imported low-speed two-wheelers can be switched to 40 to 45 km/h despite a nominal 25 km/h rating, and warned that without a weight ceiling, heavier dual-seat or cargo-carrying scooters could qualify as exempt and run on public roads without registration, insurance or a licensed rider.

Yulu asked for the 60 kg ceiling to be reinstated, possibly with a small allowance for modern battery packs. If the ceiling is removed, it asked for safeguards such as a single-seat requirement, a load-carrying limit and a physical check at the point of sale. It said it would raise the matter through the Startup Policy Forum and that court action remained an option. BGauss, on the other side, is reported by GKToday as seeing the change as a market-expansion measure. Retail reporting adds that larger and more organised players see room for personal mobility and last-mile delivery.

Analysts quoted by Autocar Professional suggested one reason for the weight change: testing agencies have reportedly found it hard to certify vehicles at 61 to 62 kg, partly because of heavier LFP battery chemistries. That is an analyst view; MoRTH has not published an explanatory note that we could find. Whichever side is right, the buyer-level point is the same. If the final rule widens the exemption, there will be more scooters that are legal without a plate, and the used market will have to separate them from those that are not.

Why the RC Check Does Not Apply to an Exempt Scooter

This is the part that is easy to get wrong, so we will be plain about it. The RC check on VahanBazaar looks up a registration number in the VAHAN database. It returns registration status, owner serial, registration date, fitness, the lender or hypothecation flag and the blacklist flag. A scooter that is genuinely exempt under Rule 2(u) is not registered. It has no registration number, so there is nothing to enter, and there is no record to return. We do not claim the check works on such a scooter, and anyone who tells you that a VAHAN record vouches for an exempt scooter is wrong.

What follows is useful. If a seller offers you an e-scooter with no plate and no RC, the VAHAN record cannot prove it is safe to buy, but the absence of a record is itself information. For a scooter in the high-speed class, it is a red flag. For a genuinely exempt one, it is normal. Your whole job is to work out which of the two you are looking at, using things you can see and read, before you pay.

Our earlier explainer, No Plate on That E-Scooter? The 250 W Rule, walks through the five-minute test under today's rules. This article is about what the draft changes and what it does not.

Exempt or Registrable: How to Tell in Five Minutes

The draft widens the gate, but it does not remove it. A scooter still has to sit under every limit at the same time. These steps work under the rule in force today and would still apply if the draft is notified, with the power and weight limits adjusted.

1. Read the motor rating plate. The rated figure is usually on the hub motor or on a plate near the battery bay. The rule looks at rated power over 30 minutes, not a peak figure on a marketing sheet. Under today's rule the line is 250 W; under the draft, as most reports describe it, 600 W. A rating of 1,000 W or more is over the line under either version. A missing or scratched-off plate means you cannot verify the scooter, so treat it as one that needs registration.
2. Find the maker's published top speed. Use the brochure or the maker's website, not the seller's word. A scooter with a 25 km/h mode and a 45 km/h mode is a 45 km/h scooter. Yulu's warning about controllers that can be switched to 40 to 45 km/h is exactly this problem.
3. Look for a plate, or the marks of one. A genuinely exempt scooter has never carried a registration plate. Drilled holes, empty brackets or a sticker covering a plate holder suggest a registered scooter whose plate was removed.
4. Ask for the maker's invoice and any testing paperwork. An exempt model is supposed to be verified by a testing agency, and the draft names AIS-041 for testing. A seller of a genuine exempt scooter should be able to name the model and show where it was sold new. If he cannot, assume the worst.
5. If the scooter has a registration number, run it. The RC check shows whether the number belongs to this make and model, whether a lender still has a claim and whether the record carries a blacklist flag. The challan check shows pending fines against that number.
6. If it fails any test and has no number, stop. Do not pay a token on a scooter that needs registration and does not have it.

The Real Risk: A Fast Scooter Passed Off as Exempt

Three situations account for most of the trouble a buyer can inherit. The first is a high-power scooter, 1,000 W or more, that a seller describes as low-speed because it is limited to 25 km/h in software. The rule does not look at a software cap that can be changed in a settings menu; it looks at rated power and what the vehicle can do. The second is a scooter that was registered once, had its plate removed to avoid challans, and is now sold as a no-RC model. The third, which the draft could make more common if finalised, is a heavier scooter, perhaps dual-seat or carrying cargo, whose seller says the weight limit no longer applies. Until a final notification is published, it does. Even after it is, the seller still has to show the motor power, the speed limit and the testing paperwork.

What an unregistered scooter that should be registered costs you

Using a motor vehicle without registration is an offence under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act, with a fine of up to Rs. 5,000 for a first offence and higher penalties for a repeat. States can notify their own amounts, so the figure on a roadside challan can differ. The scooter can also be seized, and getting it back means producing papers it has never had. A two-wheeler insurance policy is written against a registration number, so a scooter with no number has no third-party cover behind it. If you injure someone, the claim falls on you personally. That is the true cost of the price gap between a plateless fast scooter and a registered one.

What a genuine exempt scooter costs you in other ways

Even a legitimate exempt scooter comes with limits. There is no RC to transfer, so ownership rests on a sale invoice and your word against the next buyer's. There is no lender record to check, so ask directly whether the scooter was bought on a loan. There is no registration history to tell you whether it has been stolen, so insist on the original invoice and look at the chassis number on the frame. Battery condition and warranty also matter more than for any other part, and our guide on battery warranty transfer for a second owner explains what to ask.

What This Means for Used E-Scooter Buyers

The used e-scooter market is already large and getting larger. We covered the September 2026 sales record in E-Scooters Hit 2.07 Lakh: Used Buyer Checks, and the first resale wave in India's First Used E-Scooter Wave. A wider exemption would add a new category of scooters that are legal without an RC, sold alongside registered ones at similar prices, often by the same kind of seller. From a buyer's side, the draft changes nothing about the discipline required, and it raises the stakes for getting the classification right.

Here is a simple rule to carry. Registered scooter: run the number. Unregistered scooter: prove it is exempt, from the motor rating, the maker's speed figure and the paperwork, or walk away. Anything in between is a scooter that needs registration and does not have it. Do not let a seller's phrase, such as "low-speed model, no RC needed", stand in for those three proofs.

For the registered side of the market, our guide to what a used bike's RC hides and the explainer on which Vahan Verify check you need cover the fields and the choice between the Rs. 99 and Rs. 149 reports. A registered e-scooter can still carry a live loan, a pending challan or a blacklist flag, and the record is the only neutral witness in a private sale.

If you are selling a scooter that may be exempt

Sellers get caught out too. If you are selling a scooter you believe is exempt, keep the invoice, the motor rating and the maker's published speed ready, and say plainly that it has no RC. A buyer who can see the proof will trust the sale more than one who is told not to worry. If your scooter is registered, hand over the RC, the insurance and the HSRP-fitted plate, and clear any pending challans before listing. Note that our verified listing at Rs. 99 is for cars only; it does not cover scooters.

This article is general information drawn from published reports of the MoRTH draft of 21 August 2026 and from the Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor Vehicles Rules. It is not legal advice. The draft text was not available to us, the figures above are as reported, and the final rule may differ. Confirm the notified text before you rely on it.