EV charging units mandatory at fuel stations

Muscat: As part of the national strategy towards achieving zero carbon neutrality by 2050, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP) issued decision 615/2023 amending some provisions of the regulatory conditions for issuing licenses to establish and operate fuel filling stations.

Under the new decision, Article 32 will have a new section (32 bis), which states that owners of commercial filling stations are obligated to provide an electric charging point for vehicles in accordance with the requirements and controls issued by the Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR).

At the same time, Article 32 will try to ensure that fuel marketing companies are committed to providing basic public facilities at all fuel filling stations such as toilets and other basic services required by the station’s geographical location, apart from ensuring the cleanliness of these facilities during the station’s operating hours.

Article 38 states that there will be a written warning for the first violation followed by an administrative fine of RO1,000 if the violation is repeated.

There will also be an administrative fine of RO3,000, which will be doubled if the violation is repeated.

The decision shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall be effective after 180 days.

It may be noted that the number of electric cars in the Sultanate of Oman is over 400 and there are efforts to facilitate procedures for new car dealers to import directly from manufacturers.

He said that there are around 100 points for electric cars, which will go up to 300 in the next two years in all governorates of the Sultanate.

Engineer Khamis bin Mohammed al Shamakhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Transport (MTCIT), recently said that there are initiatives to manufacture electric cars in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm.

He said, “There is a steady increase in their number of electric cars as a number of agencies have begun selling electric vehicles, and the challenge remains regarding prices.There are efforts to enable agents to import less expensive, high-quality and safe cars.”