Lok Sabha passes bill to regularise e-rickshaws

 Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18

E-rickshaws will be of a great help to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities, said Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari while replying to the two-day debate on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014, in the Lok Sabha today.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill with a voice vote to regulate e-rickshaws which provide affordable last mile connectivity to millions of commuters.

Gadkari informed the House that with the passage of the bill, e-rickshaws and e-carts will be mandated to follow the requirements with regard to display of registration marks, size of letters and numerals of the registration mark, transfer of ownership and validity of certificates and fitness.

The state governments will register e-rickshaws as per the amended rules, he said.

E-rickshaws have been plying on the Delhi roads since 2012 but did not have any registration numbers and, therefore, they were not regulated. Gadkari said with the improvement in technology, the society craves for value addition to vehicles and expressed the hope that more and more manually pulled cycle-rickshaws would upgrade to the electric powered three-wheeled vehicles.

He informed the House that The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), which was commissioned by the Transport Department of the Delhi government, recommended the government to treat e-rickshaws as motor vehicles.

The minister allayed the apprehensions of some members about the safety of the passengers of e-rickshaws as well as the road users and informed them that excluding the drivers, these e-rickshaws will be mandated by rules to carry only four passengers. Luggage and power of its motor will not be more than 2,000 watts and a speed of 25 kmph.