E-rickshaws and e-carts will now be
ply on roads legally as the Cabinet
approved the ordinance on January 7,
2015. This ordinance ought to treat
these two as motor vehicles under the
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The passage
of this ordinance was not encouraged
by all. Several MPs raised concern over
the issue of passenger safety and cheap
parts purchased from China. The
government took the ordinance route
under Article 123 of the Constitution
of India for carrying out the proposed
amendments in the line of Motor
Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014 as the
Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill was
not able to be passed in the recently
concluded winter session of
Parliament.
RETURN OF ERICKSHAWS ON
ROAD AFTER
COMPROMISING ON
SAFETY
By the virtue of this ordinance, erickshaw drivers would not have to
wait for an entire year to get a license
to drive their battery-operated
vehicles. If e-rickshaw drivers pass the
driving test, they will be issued learner’s
licenses. After 30 days of getting the learner’s license they will get
general Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) licenses, mandatory for
driving transport vehicles. Till now, despite the limited speed and
power of e-rickshaws, the operators were equated with drivers
of commercial transport vehicles and had to wait for a year to
get a LMV license.
THE MINISTRY’S MOVE TO LEGALIZE E-RICKSHAWS
CAME AFTER THE BAN ON PLYING OF THE VEHICLES IN
DELHI ON THE GROUNDS THAT THEY WERE A TRAFFIC
AND SAFETY HAZARD BY THE DELHI HIGH COURT.
In July, a three year old boy, lost his life due to falling into a pot of
boiling sugar syrup when a three-wheeler hit his mother and
threw her off-balance outside a street-side sweet shop in east
Delhi. Due to this incident, Delhi high court banned e-rickshaws
with immediate effect. A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court
which sought a regulatory mechanism for e-rickshaw. According
to the PIL the e-rickshaws were running amok on the city streets
and hence a regulatory mechanism was required. The Petitioner
alleged that the inaction on the part of authorities was "wholly
illegal, arbitrary, mala fide and against the principles of natural
justice". Because of this uncontrolled plying of e-rickshaws, 29
accidents occurred in which lives of 2 passengers were lost. Till
June, 137 cases were registered against e-rickshaw drivers for
rash and negligent driving. It was alleged that unregulated
operation of the battery-operated vehicles tends to cause traffic
problems and were causing nuisance on the roads.
IN INDIA, THE GOVERNMENT RULES HAVE LEAD TO
CONTROVERSIES IN OPERATION OF E-RICKSHAWS.
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL BANS OVER TIME, BUT EVEN
AFTER THAT, E-RICKSHAWS KEPT ON RUNNING IN THE
CAPITAL. THIS FORCED THE GOVERNMENT TO FORM
SOME NEW RULES.
According to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, motor vehicles
below the range of 250 watts and speed up to 25 km per hour
are exempted but e-rickshaws are still sold above one horse
power without being subjected subjecting to any test under the
rules.
~AMRITA JHA
[RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW]
These e-rickshaws run by four 12 volts batteries with power
output of 650 to 850 watt. E-rickshaws are designed to ferry
only four people, but it has been observed that the drivers carry
almost 8 passengers, endange