No cap on number, registration of vehicle, puller mandatory: draft law

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011




There will be no cap on the number of cycle-rickshaws plying on the Capital's roads, but pullers will have to register themselves to obtain an identity card to work, a government task force has proposed as part of an upcoming law.

After months of debate over the number of rickshaws that should be allowed in the city, a 12-member task force appointed by the High Court and headed by Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta has decided on unrestricted growth. "We have approved a final draft of the proposed law. We'll put it up for the High Court's approval soon," said Mehta.

The draft allows a person to operate multiple cycle-rickshaws after getting the vehicles registered, a provision the Delhi Traffic Police opposed rigorously on the ground that it would lead to road congestion. Existing laws allow only 99,000 cycle-rickshaws to ply in the city. But Delhi has up to eight lakh rickshaws, according to various estimates, with just one out of every eight plying legally.

"Cycle-rickshaws and other non-motorised vehicles shall be registered by an appropriate authority in a locality where the vehicle owner has his residence or place of business," states the draft, a copy of which is with Newsline.

The Bill proposes the formation of a Non-motorised vehicles Use Promotion Authority, or NUPA, to enforce the new law. It will be headed by Mehta and will have bureaucrats and civil society representatives as members. It will have to meet at least four times a year to decide on policy and review implementation.

With the proposed legislation requiring pullers to register themselves, Mehta said they would need to learn basic traffic rules.

Though the proposed legislation bans unregistered cycle-rickshaws from plying, it does away with the current norm of authorities impounding rickshaws that flout the existing rules.

"In case a rickshaw-puller is caught flouting rules or a rickshaw is found to be unregistered, authorities will have to release the vehicle once the defaulter pays the prescribed fine," a task force member said.

The draft also makes dedicated lanes on all roads the right of operators of non-motorised vehicles. "NUPA will ensure that local bodies provide equitable access of city roads for non-motorised vehicles, and create segregated tracks on arterial, sub-arterial and local level roads in urban extensions, as mandated by the Masterplan 2021," the draft states.

Non-motorised vehicles in Delhi are currently regulated by the Delhi Municipal Corporation (cycle-rickshaw) bye-laws, 1960, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Thelas) bye-laws, 1960.

Original news source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-cap-on-number-registration-of-vehicle-puller-mandatory-draft-law/750002/0