BackE-rickshaws restricted till regulations are ready: Delhi govt
Municipal Corporation of Delhi will prohibit e-rickshaws from plying on arterial roads; traffic police to ensure they carry maximum four passengers
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New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that plying of battery operated three-wheelers, also known as e-rickshaws, will be restricted in the capital until rules are framed to regulate them.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will prohibit e-rickshaws from plying on arterial roads, the traffic police will ensure they carry a maximum of four passengers. Meanwhile, the transport department will set up 13 special windows to issue licences to e-rickshaw drivers.
At the hearing of a review petition filed against the order banning e-rickshaws in Delhi, additional solicitor general Pinky Anand submitted affidavits from MCD, the transport department of Delhi, and the deputy commissioner of police for traffic in this regard. Anand also informed the court that an insurance corpus had been set by the Battery Rickshaw Welfare Association (BRWA).
Lawyer Sugriva Dubey, appearing for Shanawaz Khan, a social worker who had filed the petition against e-rickshaws, showed pictures of e-rickshaws that are plying in Delhi despite the ban. The BRWA, which filed the review petition, however, alleged this was a “personal interest litigation" and not a public interest litigation, saying Khan owned several autorickshaws himself, which have benefited from a ban on
e-rickshaws.
On 31 July, the high court had banned e-rickshaws.
A review petition against this order was filed by the BRWA, representing the interests of e-rickshaw drivers. On 5 August, the government’s counsel had urged the court to lift the ban till the rules are notified. The court, instead of lifting the ban, allowed the government to come up with guidelines to regulate e-rickshaws.
The guidelines were produced before the court on 8 August, but the court refused to lift the ban as the guidelines did not mention registering e-rickshaws and licensing drivers. The government produced amended guidelines on 11 August, stating it needed two months to make the required changes to the Motor Vehicles Act and the relevant laws. The court said it could not “permit something that is not provided under the law". The case was adjourned on 14 August.
The ban has met with protests from e-rickshaw drivers, and the issue was raised in the parliament by Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel.
Last week, Centre set up a panel to recommend rules for manufacturing and maintenance of e-rickshaws to enable them to resume plying in Delhi.
The court will continue to hear the matter on Thursday.
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