Delhi HC issues notice in plea seeking guidelines for two-wheeler deliveries

It was contended that delivery personnel employed by platforms, such as Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, and Amazon, routinely used two-wheeled vehicles to transport oversized, bulky, and excessively heavy items, including industrial tool kits, foldable furniture, and commercial delivery boxes

New Delhi

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought responses from the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court issued a notice on Wednesday in a plea seeking directions to the Centre and the Delhi government to formulate guidelines governing the nature and size of items transported on two-wheelers by personnel of delivery service platforms.

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought responses from the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police in a plea filed by advocate Shashank Shri Tripathi, and scheduled the next hearing for October 8.

“Issue notice to the respondents. List on October 8,” the court ordered.

In his plea, Tripathi contended that delivery personnel employed by platforms, such as Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, and Amazon, routinely used two-wheeled vehicles to transport oversized, bulky, and excessively heavy items, including industrial tool kits, foldable furniture, and commercial delivery boxes.

These loads, the plea contended, exceeded the permissible dimension and weight limit under Indian law governing traffic, compromised the vehicle’s stability, obstructed the vision of riders and endangered public safety.

During the hearing, Delhi government’s standing counsel Sameer Vashisht submitted that the government in November 2023 notified the “Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme” to streamline the operations of ride-hailing and delivery platforms within Delhi.

The scheme, which extends to two-, three-, and four-wheelers, also makes it mandatory for aggregators to establish a round-the-clock “command and control centre” to monitor vehicle movements and respond to panic button alerts, which the government will also have access to. It also mandates all cab aggregators and delivery service providers to switch their fleet entirely to electric by 2030 — in a bid to curtail the annual air pollution crisis.

Vashisht further submitted that he would place on record the action taken by the Delhi government on the ground.

Accordingly, the court also directed the Delhi government to specify in its affidavit details of the action taken against the violators of the 2023 scheme.

“The counsel informs that the Delhi government has made a policy known as Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme, notified in November 2023. The counsel is directed to bring the said policy on record and given details of action taken pursuant to the policy,” the court said in its order.