Named after Chetak, the horse of the Indian warrior Maharana Pratap, the scooter's original petrol version licensed production of the Italian Vespa Sprint.

In the face of rising competition from bikes and cars, Chetak lost ground in India, and production was discontinued in 2005 as Bajaj Auto stopped manufacturing scooters altogether.

On 16 October 2019, Bajaj Auto unveiled a new electric version of their Chetak scooter under the Urbanite EV brand.

The production of Chetak Electric started on September 25, 2019, at the Chakan plant of Bajaj Auto.

Chetak Technology Ltd inaugurated their newly built EV manufacturing plant at Pune's Akurdi on the birth anniversary of Rahul Bajaj in October 2019.