The Delhi High Court today rapped the city government over erickshaws plying "uncontrolled" on the roads and asked it to make sure there is no unregulated traffic in the national capital.
"We will not permit this unregulated transport. It has to be regulated. They (erickshaws) can't ply uncontrolled without licence, registration or insurance. You better make sure in Delhi there is no unregulated traffic," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said while hearing a plea seeking regulation of erickshaws.
The court made the observations after perusing an affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary of the Delhi government who has said that erickshaws are to be treated as "public service vehicles" which are "required to comply with all extant rules and regulations" governing operation of such vehicles.
The affidavit also states no separate policy is required for governing erickshaws as they are already covered by the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act and their operation "as per the law as it stands today is unauthorised and illegal".
The bench questioned how erickshaws are being allowed to ply on the city roads if they are not complying with the rules and regulations as admitted by the authorities.
"He (Chief Secretary) is saying erickshaws to be treated as a public service vehicles. So how are they plying if they are not complying with the rules and regulations?" the bench said, adding, "Just ban them."
The court also observed that people are getting injured by erickshaws whose drivers get away scot free because the vehicles are unregistered.
Advocate Sugrive Dubey, appearing for the petitioner Shanawaz Khan, alleged that a couple of persons have died in accidents involving erickshaws.
The Chief Secretary, in his affidavit, has also said that the Delhi government stopped taking action against erickshaws as Union Minister of Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari, announced that laws pertaining to such vehicles will be changed to take them out of ambit of MV Act.
It said the minister had also directed civic agencies and not transport department to frame policy to regulate operation of erickshaws.
