The government plan that granted subsidies and exemptions for those who wished to replace old polluting scooters with new electricity-powered vehicles has fallen short of expectations, with the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) stating that during the phase of the plan, only 1,822 applications were received.
When the plan was first unveiled back in February 2022, DSPA’s director Raymond Tam told the Times that the bureau aimed to attract participation from between 10% and 30% of such vehicle owners, a rate that translated to between 2,550 and 7,650 motorcycles. This figure was far from the actual number of applications, notwithstanding the fact that the plan, which initially expected to finish on December 31, 2022, was extended for another three months until the end of March this year.
The DSPA noted that the financial support plan was “aimed at encouraging owners to scrap obsolete motorcycles, which are highly polluting, to better optimize air quality and ensure the well-being of citizens.” It was also aimed at increasing the popularity of electric motorcycles.
In the same statement, the bureau also noted that from the 1,822 applications received for the “Financial Support Plan for Disposing of Obsolete Motorcycles and Their Replacement with New Electric Motorcycles,” so far, 1,457 motorcycles have been received by the DSPA to be scrapped and a total of 1,210 new electric motorcycles have been registered.
The financial support plan for the motorcycles granted a MOP3,500 direct subsidy, with vehicle owners also exempted from paying two registration fees for the new vehicles: the MOP900 fee to issue a provisional license plate, and the fee for issuing a formal license plate (MOP3,600 or 4,400 according to the vehicle category).
Back in 2017, the bureau launched a similar project that aimed to reduce the number of two-stroke engine vehicles (motorcycles). Tam noted that the expectations for the new plan were based on the “successful participation of 52% of the vehicle owners” in the 2017 program.
Plan for disposing of old diesel vehicles attracts 33% participation rate
A different plan with a similar purpose was launched in mid-September last year and finished mid-March this year. This plan attracted far more interest from vehicle owners than the electric scooter plan.
DSPA stated that the participation rate has reached 33%, which equates to a total of 313 applications in a six-month period.
Contrary to the plan launched for the motorcycles, the plan for the old diesel vehicles (light or heavy duty) aged 20 years or older granted a direct subsidy from MOP25,000 to MOP115,000, according to the classification and specifications of the vehicle, without the need to replace the obsolete vehicle for another.
This plan also included old tour buses with 31 or more seats within its scope, and awarded a subsidy of MOP85,000 per vehicle retired.
Although the results obtained are far from the goal established by the DSPA, the bureau said that results were nonetheless positive and that it “has already been possible to successfully eliminate a series of obsolete motorcycles and old vehicles powered by diesel with high levels of pollution, which not only made it possible to achieve the objective of improving air quality in the short term but also to further promote the use of electric motorcycles, helping to achieve the targets for peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality.”
Taking into account the series of events that unfolded in 2017 when the first plan of this kind was implemented, it is expected that the government will soon implement punitive measures applicable to the type of vehicles involved in the subsidy plans by raising the standards that such vehicles need to comply with to continue circulating in Macau.
