Transport Minister Shri Ramakant Goswami said the government decided to increase the number of auto-rickshaw as commuters in several areas have been experiencing shortage of three-wheelers.
"The Transport department has received representations from commuters to grant more permits to auto-rickshaws," he said.
Goswami said the Supreme Court had allowed the government to grant 45,000 permits out of which 3,000 permits are yet to be given.
"The permits would be exclusively given to those who have already bought the vehicle but yet to get registration," he said.
In 1997, the apex court had directed that there shall be no fresh registration of auto-rickshaws as they were running on two or four stroke petrol engines contributing to the severe pollution in Delhi. It had, however, permitted that existing autos be replaced by new ones.
Subsequently, the autos were converted into single-fuel CNG-propelled vehicles but the restriction on the fresh registration resulted in malpractices by the auto-owners and drivers.