e-rickshaws without number plates abound on city roads
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 16
The instruction of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to install registration plates on e-rickshaws have failed to have any impact on the e-rickshaw owners as most of the vehicles can be still seen plying without the registration plates in the city. The order was issued in October last year.
Around four months after the directions, a few hundred drivers and owners of e-rickshaw have registered their vehicles with the RTA. However, the number of e-rickshaws plying on the city roads is around 3,500. “Since January, we have been providing registration number to e-rickshaws. Those who bought e-rickshaws last year have not got their vehicles registered,” said an e-rickshaw seller.
Gurdev Singh, an e-rickshaw owner, said: “I have paid for a registration number but have not got one. The agency officials say it will be issued by the RTA office soon.”
E-rickshaw costs around Rs 1 lakh and agency holders charge Rs 14,000 for registration and insurance.
The state government has exempted e-rickshaw from tax to promote pollution-free public transportation. Officials of the Regional Transport Authority have claimed that e-rickshaw owners could get a registration number by paying Rs 4,000 which includes hypothecation fee, smart card fee, RC fee and MVI fee.
The Secretary, RTA, Darbara Singh, did not respond to repeated phone calls. Angrez Singh, Assistant Transport Officer, said: “I can’t discuss the issue over phone.”
