While the regularisation of e-rickshaws still in process, thousands have been plying on Delhi roads without any valid permit. Acting against them, Delhi Traffic Police has impounded around 11,500 e-rickshaws till May this year.
DCP Traffic Police told a bench of Justice Suresh Kait of Delhi High Court on Tuesday that 11,439 e-rickshaws have been impounded by its enforcement staff till May this year for running on city roads despite a ban. He told the High Court that in compliance of the court’s January 27 order, a specific direction was issued to all functionaries to take strict action against e-rickshaws found plying on Delhi roads in “true letter and spirit”.
In its status report, Traffic Police said that that out of the 11,439 e-rickshaws impounded, 10,521 e-rickshaws have been impounded under Delhi Police (DP) Act and 918 under MV Act. “Further, 5,157 e-rickshaws which were impounded under DP Act have been released by the concerned traffic ACPs and 516 e-rickshaws, which were impounded under MV Act, have been released by various courts after penalty,” said the report.
The court was hearing Shahnawaz Khan’s contempt petition, filed through advocate Sugriva Dubey, which has alleged that e-rickshaws are continuing to operate in the national Capital in violation of the court’s September 9, 2014 direction.
The Traffic Police in the status report, filed by Delhi Government’s standing counsel Raman Duggal to the contempt plea of Shahnawaz Khan alleging non-compliance of the court’s orders, said that there shall “not be any laxity in this respect in enforcing the directions of the court”.
It further said that 5,766 e-rickshaws (5,364 impounded under DP Act and 402 impounded under MV Act) still remain to be released. The court had on October 28 last year, while issuing showcause notice, asked why contempt action may not be initiated against the authorities concerned.
It had also sought responses of the authorities and expressed surprise that e-rickshaws are still running “with impunity” in the national Capital despite the September 9, 2014 order restraining them from plying and suggested the vehicles be seized and their tires deflated. It had left it to Parliament and the Centre to decide what legislative changes are needed to be introduced to regulate the plying of e-rickshaws.
The High Court’s September 9, 2014 order had come on Shahnawaz’s writ petition opposing the running of e-rickshaws alleging that they are designed to carry only four people but they ferry more than that, thus endangering the lives of the passengers. It had on July 31, 2014 banned plying of e-rickshaws on the roads of the national Capital saying “prima facie they are a hazard to other traffic as well as citizens”.