Efforts on to bring e-bikes under legal ambit

E-bikes with 25 CC or smaller engines, with space for carrying goods in the front and rear, are designated as bicycles. They have a maximum speed limit of 25 kilometres per hour, do not come under the Motor Vehicles Act and traffic rules and no driving license is required to use them. Most courier companies, gig workers and delivery personnel use e-bikes for transporting goods and luggage

Mumbai: With concerns rising over lightweight electric bikes violating traffic rules and causing accidents, the state government is trying to find a way to regulate e-bikes with 25 CC (cubic capacity) or smaller engines. Discussions are on regarding levying Section 33 of the Bombay Police Act, applicable to handcarts and man-drawn vehicles, on e-bikes, especially in cases of overloading and blocking of traffic. Unions and federations of drivers and gig-workers who use these e-bikes regularly too have demanded a separate policy to regularise them.

Efforts on to bring e-bikes under legal ambit

E-bikes with 25 CC or smaller engines, with space for carrying goods in the front and rear, are designated as bicycles. They have a maximum speed limit of 25 kilometres per hour, do not come under the Motor Vehicles Act and traffic rules and no driving license is required to use them. Most courier companies, gig workers and delivery personnel use e-bikes for transporting goods and luggage.

It is alleged that e-bike riders don’t wear helmets, overload their vehicles, drive in a rash manner well beyond the speed limit and even overtake auto rickshaws, which have a reputation for notorious driving. E-bikers also breach traffic lights at will as traffic rules do not apply to them, and it is difficult to hold them accountable during accidents owing to the lack of registration.

The issue of rash driving by e-bikers was first raised by auto and taxi unions in January this year. On January 25, the unions wrote a letter to the transport department and the traffic police, highlighting the need to bring e-bikes under the legal ambit.

“These e-bikes carry 150-200 kg loads, which can cause safety issues not just for the drivers but also for other motorists and pedestrians. We demand that Section 33 of Bombay Police Act, used to levy fines on handcarts carrying goods, be made applicable to these e-bikes,” said Thampy Kurien, who heads the Mumbai Rickshamen’s Union. Doing so would allow the traffic police to levy fines on errant e-bikers, he added.

Federations of app-based drivers and gig workers have also demanded that e-bikes be brought under the regulatory ambit, preferably under a separate policy.

“We have already spoken about the need for a separate policy for e-bikes. We have discussed the need to restrict the permissible weight at 50-60 kg or the average human weight riding pillion on the e-bikes,” said Prashant Sawardekar, president, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers.

Sources said the issue was discussed at a meeting under the road safety month, which ended on February 14. “Though e-bikes do not fall under purview of the Motor Vehicles Act, there is an urgent need to regulate them,” said an RTO officer.

State transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said no concrete step was currently planned on the issue.