E-rickshaws will now be allowed to ply after the Centre on Wednesday recognised them as special category three-wheeled vehicles with a maximum speed of 25 km per hour. The Government also limited the maximum number of passengers that can be ferried by the e-rickshaws to four.
Although the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued the notification on Wednesday evening, the plying of the e-rickshaws is now subject to the Delhi High Court lifting the ban it had placed on them citing safety issues due to lack of rules for plying the battery-operated vehicles.
The Ministry on Wednesday notified that: “E-rickshaw means a special-purpose battery-operated vehicle having three wheels and intended to provide last mile connectivity for transport of passengers.”
Setting safety standards, the Government laid out that such a vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry no more than four passengers, excluding the driver, and not more than 40 kg of luggage in all. “The net power of its motor is not more than 2,000 watts and the maximum speed of the vehicle is not more than 25 km per hour,” the notification said.
“Every driving licence issued or renewed by a licensing authority to drive an e-rickshaw shall be valid for a period of not more than three years from the date of issue, as the case may be, or till the validity of the driving licence, whichever is earlier,” it read.
The court had on July 31 this year, banned the 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.” A High Court Bench had left it to the Parliament and the Centre to decide what legislative changes were needed to be introduced to regulate the plying of e-rickshaws.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that his Ministry was working towards addressing safety concerns as far as the vehicles were concerned and would take measures to make their plying lawful with necessary modifications in rules and laws.
The Minister had said that thousands of poor people were deprived of their livelihood due to the ban on e-rickshaws.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Delhi Pradesh president Satish Upadhyay welcomed the move. “It is the responsibility of all the State Governments, including Delhi to start smooth operation of e-rickshaws after overcoming all legal hindrances,” he said.
“Now the lieutenant-Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung should apprise Delhi High Court about this notification and request it to remove the ban on the operation of e-rickshaw so that the livelihood of thousands of families may be saved,” he said.