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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Government forms panel for framing rules for e-rickshaws
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Government forms panel for framing rules for e-rickshaws

Move comes after Delhi HC barred the vehicles on roads; committee to recommend rules to meet safety norms

The report by the committee is to be submitted by 17 August and will affect commuters in national capital territory of Delhi, along with the 70,000 e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi and its suburbs. Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
The report by the committee is to be submitted by 17 August and will affect commuters in national capital territory of Delhi, along with the 70,000 e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi and its suburbs. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has set up a panel to recommend rules of construction and maintenance of the controversial e-rickshaws so that battery-operated three-wheelers can resume plying in the national capital.

This comes after the Delhi high court barred the vehicles from operating in the city.

The committee will recommend rules for construction, equipment and maintenance of e-rickshaws to meet safety requirements of the occupants of the vehicle, road users and the affordability of prospective buyers, according to the terms of reference of the panel headed by the director of International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT). The document was reviewed by Mint.

The terms of reference of the e-rickshaw plan, championed by the transport minister Nitin Gadkari, also state the committee recommend “engine capacity of e-rickshaws required for carrying load of driver, four passengers and luggage up to 50kg".

The panel has representatives from the department of heavy industries (DHI), ministries of environment and forest and power, Automotive Research Association of India (Arai), transport department of Delhi, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, The Energy and Resources Institute and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

The report is to be submitted by 17 August and will affect commuters in national capital territory of Delhi, along with the 70,000 e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi and its suburbs.

A spokesperson for the roads ministry said the committee was constituted last week.

“This decision is a fallout of the high court order, which says e-rickshaws should be regulated. This is against the previous stand of the minister of road transport and highways, who did not want it to be regulated in any way. Now like any motor vehicle, there will be safety parameters for e-rickshaws as well," a top government official said, requesting anonymity. The government has promised that e-rickshaws won’t be deemed illegal.

The promise was made by Gadkari at a rally of e-rickshaw drivers and owners in Ramlila Maidan on 17 June.

The high court’s ruling came on a 2 September petition by social worker Shahnawaz Khan that sought to stop the operation of e-rickshaws in public interest. The petitioner had argued that e-rickshaws had no accountability since they operated without any licence, token or registration with any authority. The petitioner had also requested the court to set a cap on the number of passengers to ensure their safety.

The court will hear the matter again on 14 August.

In addition, the committee will also recommend “simplified rules for type approval and COP (conformity of production) norms of e-rickshaws so as to ensure compliance to the notified rules without unduly increasing the costs" and “infrastructure requirement for charging of batteries".

“DHI will coordinate with roads ministry on the issue," said Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary at the heavy industries department. The previous United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre had declared e-rickshaws illegal in a 24 April notification.

All vehicles powered by a motor, which includes battery powered three-wheelers, are regulated by the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The transport ministry had earlier floated a cabinet note to remove e-rickshaws from the purview of the motor vehicles law after the NDA came to power.

“It seems the Centre is trying to frame rules under CMVR (Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989) to give retrospective legal protection to wrongly, unsafely assembled and welded over-powered battery rickshaws having speed-control device. Outsmarting the CMVR through so-called guidelines may hoodwink the high court, PMO, Parliament and hapless e-rickshaw users and compromise on road safety," said S.P. Singh, a senior fellow and coordinator at Delhi-based Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

The proliferation of e-rickshaws will hurt sales of three-wheelers, said an executive from auto lobby group Siam, requesting anonymity.

“E-rickshaws do not attract any excise duty as it falls into small-scale industry," the executive said. “They steal power to charge batteries. There is no homologation (test and modify vehicles to suit local conditions) cost involved. The only thing that they do is to pay duties for importing stuff from China. This is going to have an impact on the way auto sector works in the country," the executive added.

The roads ministry is also working on a proposal to overhaul the Motor Vehicles Act.

amrit.r@livemint.com

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Published: 13 Aug 2014, 01:08 AM IST
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