EV Charging Business As A Service in Serbia
Who and how can provide the service of charging electric vehicles in Serbia?
Overview
Although the trend of buying hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles arrived in Serbia much later than in developed European countries, the number of sold vehicles of this type has been growing for years. In this regard, the mere provision of charging services for electric vehicles has gained importance. The latest amendments to the Energy Act (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 145/2014, 95/2018 – other law and 40/2021 “EA“) from 2021, the service of charging electricity to vehicles with electric or combined electric and the second plant is recognized as a special service in the field of energy.
Who can provide the service of charging electric vehicles in Serbia?
Article 210v of the EA stipulates that the provider of charging services for vehicles with electric or combined electric and other propulsion (“Electric vehicles”) may be:
- company or
- entrepreneur
who provides the service of charging Electric vehicles in a public place and is the end customer on the electricity market.
The EA stipulates that the distribution system operator may not own, develop or operate charging stations for Electric vehicles unless it owns charging stations exclusively for its own use.
Current situation
There are currently a small number of Electric vehicle charging service providers in Serbia. It is interesting that, unlike almost all other countries in the world, charging electric vehicles in Serbia is currently free for users or paid for by buying tokens, although there are some indications from the Government of the Republic of Serbia that this will change in the near future.
At the moment, the greatest progress in providing a specific service has been made by the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) and Gazprom, which have enabled the charging of Electric vehicles at certain retail facilities. In addition, the gas stations of the Oil Industry of Serbia and Gazprom are part of the Charge & Go network of electric chargers, which enables users of Electric vehicles to pay for the service with tokens through the Charge & Go application.
Under what conditions the right to provide the service of charging electric vehicles in Serbia is acquired?
As the EA does not explicitly provide for the issuance of a license for the provision of charging services for Electric vehicles in Serbia, as is the case for other energy activities, it can be concluded with certainty that the license is not required.
The EA stipulates that the government will regulate:
- the technical specifications for electric vehicle charging stations,
- the possibility, manner, and place of measurement,
- obligations of the system operator towards the end customer who provides Electric vehicle charging services,
- obligations of Electric vehicle charging service providers and
- other issues related to charging stations,
which has, however, not been done so far.
Conclusion
In the end, it can be stated that the activity of providing the service of charging Electric vehicles in Serbia is still in its infancy and that it is still insufficiently regulated. Last year, the Government of the Republic of Serbia announced the introduction of charging for the service of charging Electric vehicles. In this light, it can be expected that in the near future the specific service will be more comprehensively regulated.
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