12 e-rickshaws register under new Delhi transport scheme

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NEW DELHI: Three months after the Delhi transport department brought out its new scheme for registration of e-rickshaws, following changes in the Central Motor Vehicle Act, the number of e-rickshaws registered is minuscule.

The scheme, which was launched in February, was expected to be a shot in the arm for the thousands of e-rickshaws drivers operating in the city.

“Till now, 12 vehicles have been registered with the state transport authority. These vehicles were registered as they had the requisite type approval,” said a senior government official.
According to officials with the STA, four models have been given approval by the transport department till now. These are from manufacturers who have got their vehicle specifications approved by the ICAT, Manesar, an authorized testing agency of the government.

Officials however, admitted that although the campaign by the transport department to get maximum number of e-rickshaw drivers to go through the process of getting a driver’s license and public service vehicle (PSV) badge was on, the registration was going slow.

“The reason is that the manufacturers need to get their vehicles approved by the testing agency. This is not being done proactively by most manufacturers, especially those who sold vehicles which had been assembled in India. Several of the vehicles that were sold earlier were manufactured in China and only assembled here. These manufacturers are not coming forward to get their vehicle type tested,” said the official.

A large number of e-rickshaws that were sold and are plying on roads are assembled ones, he added. “There are only a handful of e-rickshaw manufacturers in India,” said the official.

As a result, the number of e-rickshaws that can be registered are few, say officials. “Till now, only 4-5 vehicle type have got approval. So, only vehicles manufactured by these companies are being registered. These include brands like Mayuri, Victory, Shaurya, Yufeng and others,” said the official.

At the time of changing motor vehicle rules, the government had estimated that there are over one lakh e-rickshaw drivers in the city. Most had bought the e-rickshaws at the time the vehicles, which were battery operated, were not being regulated. However, with varying kinds flooding the market with varying speeds and specifications, the court had asked the government to put these vehicles under regulation over concerns of safety.

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