HC seeks police reply on plea against unlicensed e-rickshaws

Delhi High Court today sought the response of Delhi Police on a plea seeking a direction to immediately stop plying of unlicensed e-rickshaws here in the wake of recent deaths allegedly caused by these vehicles.
Justice J R Midha issued notice on the application which said the police should be directed to take effective steps to stop illegal operation of e-rickshaws in the city, especially in the trans-Yamuna area.
"The respondents be prosecuted for deliberately allowing e-rickshaw operators to ply illegally ignoring the law," the plea, filed through advocate Sugriva Dubey, said.
It further said that any e-rickshaw, plying on the road illegally, should be taken into custody.

The court fixed the matter for hearing on September 16.
The high court had earlier directed the AAP government to inform it about the number of mishaps in accidents involving e-rickshaws and the percentage of death caused by them.

The court gave the oral direction as it asked the government to formulate an insurance policy for e-rickshaws to help mishap victims claim compensation and prohibit plying of any such unregistered vehicle on the roads here.
The court was hearing a contempt plea filed by one Shahnawaz Khan alleging that most of the e-rickshaws in the city were operating in violation of law and rules and authorities were not taking any action against such vehicles.

The government had earlier told the court that as per its December 11, 2014 notification, e-rickshaws have been banned from plying or parking on 236 roads in the city.
Khan, in his contempt plea, has alleged that e-rickshaws continued to operate in the national capital in violation of the court's September 9, 2014 direction holding the plying of e-rickshaws in the national capital as illegal as per the then existing law and the ban on their operation would continue till the Centre framed rules to regulate them.