New Delhi: Parliament on Wednesday cleared a bill to pave the way for plying of e-rickshaws in Delhi, months after Delhi High Court had put a ban on them.
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to amend the 1988 Act was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday by a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had passed on March 3 the measure which replaces an Ordinance.
E-rickshaws or battery-operated three-wheeler vehicles had gone off roads after Delhi high court had banned their plying on July 31 last year over safety concerns.
A division bench of Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul confirmed the ban on September 9 "till such time rules and regulations are brought about by the legislature".
The court had banned plying of e-rickshaws on the city roads, saying they were illegally running and were hazardous to other traffic as well as citizens.
On January 7, President Pranab Mukherjee had promulgated an Ordinance as the bill to regularise the e-rickshaws got stuck in Rajya Sabha after being passed by the Lok Sabha on December 18.
The government in October last had notified the rules for plying of e-rickshaws, making driver's licence mandatory for operating them and limiting their maximum speed to 25 kmph.
Replying to the debate on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said not only would the poor benefit from it but it would give a boost to 'Make in India' initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the battery-operated vehicle was now being manufactured indigenously.
The vehicle, which was at one point being shipped in from China, would not be imported any longer as a "Pune-based company is now manufacturing the vehicles. It will be made in India as part of the 'Make in India' initiative."
On the issue of providing credit to buy e-rickshaws, Gadkari said he had approached the Finance Minister and Prime Minister and "I hope they will consider this issue."
The Minister said it was being debated that whether a 8th standard passed person would be eligible for a license. "If not, what happens? This condition has to be thought about on a sympathetic ground," he said.
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