The death of a two-year-old boy after being hit by a rashly driven e-rickshaw came as a wake-up call for the municipal corporations in the national Capital which said prime focus will be on public safety while formulating the policy for e-rickshaws.

As Nadeem, the errant driver, went untraceable after the incident, the civic body officials said all minute details pertaining to the drivers would be maintained by the corporations while issuing permit and licence for operating the battery rickshaws. The municipal corporations that are in the final stage of framing the policy for e-rickshaws, said stricter laws would be made to ensure these vehicles do not have a free run on the city roads.

As officials claimed, presently there is no agency that maintains the personal details of the drivers operating the e-rickshaws. This, according to them, poses a grave risk to the public safety as in the present case where police failed to trace the accused driver. The address proof and the identity of the drivers would ensure they cannot escape from the law in case of an accident or negligence.

North Delhi Mayor Yogendra Chandolia said that policy will be finalised soon and the Corporation would ensure that token issued at the time of registration of e-rickshaws contain all the details of owner. “While issuing the token, the Corporation will keep all the relevant record like present and permanent addresses and contact number of the driver,” Chandolia said. Officials maintained the owner of the battery rickshaw has to be the driver of the vehicle and in no circumstance, it can be rented out. “Driving licence for running e-rickshaw will be issued only to the owners. Renting out the vehicles will be strictly prohibited,” Chandolia added.

Officials said all records pertaining to registration of these battery operated rickshaws would be kept in digitised form and connected with the server of all three Corporations. These records will be shared with the law enforcing agency like Delhi Traffic Police.

For registration of vehicle, owners will have to furnish his identity and residence proof issued by any Government authority. Names of owner and his driving licence detail, residential address and phone number will be prominently displayed on the e-rickshaws. “Non compliance will lead to prosecution of the errant drivers,” the Mayor said.