President Pranab Mukherjee has signed an ordinance to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 2014 paving the way for plying of e-rickshaws on roads of the national capital region. The Union Cabinet, on the 24th of last month, had approved promulgation of the ordinance as a bill in this regard could not be passed in the recently concluded winter session of Parliament.

E-rickshaws, or battery-operated three-wheeler vehicles, had gone off roads after the Delhi High Court banned their plying last July on safety concerns.
Under the new rules, e-rickshaws will be allowed to carry four passengers and 40 kgs of luggage while e-carts would transport goods up to 310 kgs.

Under the Motor Vehicles Act, no person can be granted a learner’s licence to drive a transport vehicle unless he has held the driving licence for a period of at least one year. As most of the E-rickshaw and e-Cart drivers do not have any license for an year, the extant provision debarred them from operating e-Rickshaws/e-Carts.

To remove this difficulty and facilitate plying of e-Rickshaw and e-Cart, the Cabinet approved Road Transport and Highways Ministry’s proposal to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, through Ordinance. It would enable the grant of driving licence for E-Rickshaw and E-Cart drivers holding LMV licence, without waiting for the prescribed one year period for transport vehicles.