The government and civic bodies are working on a policy to regularise the e-rickshaws, as soon as possible. The officials are hopeful that policy will be completed by the end of this month.
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung said that it is the responsibility of the city government to regularise e-rickshaws.
‘There are three issues with regularisation of e-rickshaws, first is who will give them licences? The second is who will regulate them and the third is who will do the registration and other necessary formalities,’ asked Jung. To complete the process of regulation of e-rickshaws soon, Jung said the government will also open the license departments for extra 3-4 hours.
‘If there are one lakh people, then it is impossible to give them licences in one day. We have given an assurance in the court that the licensing offices will work overtime to complete the process as soon as possible,’ he added. Senior Delhi government officials said the entire regulation process for e-rickshaws, which is facing hurdles due to multiplicity of authorities, is likely to be completed by the end of this month and the government will be ready to file an affidavit in the Delhi High Court with details of regulation. ‘The municipal corporations of Delhi are saying that they are ready to regulate the e-rickshaws. The problem is that the e-rickshaws are not defined under the Motor Vehicle Act. I guess the Centre is preparing a draft of rule for this,’ he added.
The e-rickshaws were banned by the Delhi High Court last month following an accident in which a two-year-old kid died in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri area.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court stayed the ban on e-rickshaws till the next hearing on 28 August.