HC refuses interim permission for plying of e-rickshaws

The Delhi High Court today refused to grant interim nod for plying of e-rickshaws despite the the Centre filing draft guidelines for framing of rules for these vehicles.
Putting its foot down, the court said that battery-run e-rickshaws will have to comply with the law and they cannot be allowed to ply without registration, insurance and valid driving licenses of their drivers.
The Centre sought two months' time for putting in place the rules for these over 50,000 (rpt 50,000) vehicles, which have been banned by the court, and requested for interim nod to allow them to ply on municipal and arterial village roads in the national capital.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that besides the draft guidelines, it has also formed two panels to recommend draft rules to govern e-rickshaws.
Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, said there are various proposed actions including that the e-rickshaws will not ply on "high speed" roads and their maximum speed would be less than 25 km per hour with maximum capacity of four persons and 50 kg of load.
"We will be happy to help you (Centre), but it has to be done within the four corners of the law. The drivers of such vehicles must have driving licences. The vehicles must be registered and insured. Do you expect the court to do things which is not permissible in law," the bench of justices B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said.

When it was submitted that the ban relates to the livelihood of thousands of e-rickshaw owners, the court said, "We are also concerned for them. But, we are also concerned for those who are inside and outside the e-rickshaws as well. The point is they are motor vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act and cannot be allowed to run like this."

"Do you want us to suspend the operation of the Motor Vehicles Act. Can we do that?," it said.
The ASG cited an earlier judgement by which illegal mobile towers were allowed to remain with certain conditions.
"We will do the needful within two months. For the interregnum period, the e-rickshaws can be allowed to operate," she said, adding that a lot of things are to be done to ensure registration and issuance of driving licenses.

So far as the insurance of such vehicles is concerned, the e-rickshaws association has decided to created a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for paying insurance claims till the time the permanent steps are taken.