Even as Traffic Police grounds 302 e-rickshaws in one day
Pedalling it hard for a day’s bread, rickshaw pullers now find it hard to pull on after court order. Soon after the ban on e-rickshaws was ordered by the High Court, the Delhi Traffic Police came down heavily on them. launching its crackdown, Traffic Police on Thursday impounded 302 rickshaws in just a day. The orders were issued late on Thursday evening after which police swung into action.
Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday impounded 219 vehicles while on Friday 83 rickshaws were grounded by police. Officials claimed not many e-rickshaws were plying on roads on Friday. The rickshaws, which were found plying, were booked under the Motor Vehicles Act for operating without a numberplate and for not complying with the court order.
In Delhi, 53 rickshaws were impounded from Central range, 85 from Northern range, 42 from Southern range, 45 from Eastern range and 77 from Western range. “Not many e-rickshaws were visible on Thursday. The message has gone strongly through the media and court order. The matter is sub-judice. Any decision of release of these vehicles will be only on the High Court’s order. Till then the vehicles will remained seized,” said Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander. However, officials said every seized vehicle has been given an identification tag having phone number, name of the holder so as the rickshaw owners could easily be identified.
Electric rickshaws have been mired in controversy for not being covered under the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA). Traffic Police demanded that these rickshaws should either come under the ambit of the MVA or be colour-coded according to zones to ply in a systematic system in the Capital. Passengers flagging down these e-rickshaws often did so putting their lives at risk since the rickshaws are neither registered nor insured.