The municipal corporations of Delhi have come up with a policy on regulation of e-rickshaws in the Capital. The policy was tabled in a meeting of the Standing Committee of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Thursday but was deferred to be taken up in the next meeting. The uniform policy for the three civic bodies aims at curbing traffic violations and ensuring passenger safety.
While the civic bodies have prescribed easy norms for obtaining licence; it would be mandatory for the battery-operated three-wheelers to abide by the traffic rules failing which they will be liable for prosecution or even seizure of the vehicles.
“The battery rickshaws will have to follow traffic signals and abide by traffic rules laid down by the Central Government or the instructions issued by any police officer regulating the traffic in a particular area. In violation of the rules, the drivers shall be liable for prosecution,” the policy said.
With congestion due to haphazard parking of rickshaws being another area of concern, the three municipal corporations would identify locations within their territories for parking and halting of these three-wheelers. Parking of rickshaws at places other than the designated locations would also amount to violation of rules.
The draft policy lays great emphasis on public safety with regard to the run of e-rickshaws on the roads. To avoid over-speeding, the battery rickshaws will compulsorily be fitted with speed governors that would restrict their maximum speed to 15 km per hour.