DMRC plans to use e-rickshaws for last-mile connectivity across 129 Metro stations

Buoyed by the success of its e-rickshaw service in Noida and Ghaziabad, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is planning to extend the service to commuters in the national capital.

Buoyed by the success of its e-rickshaw service in Noida and Ghaziabad, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is planning to extend the service to commuters in the national capital.

E-rickshaws outside Vishwavidyalaya Metro station. The DMRC plans to implement the service at all 129 stations in Delhi. (HT Photo)

The service, aimed at providing last-mile connectivity to Metro users, will have high-tech e-rickshaws fitted with CCTV cameras and GPS to ensure added safety for passengers, especially women commuters. The e-rickshaws will be allowed to cover a radius of about 4 kilometres around Metro stations and are designed differently in style than the usual ones that are plying on city roads.

The proposal for this was in June put up before lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who asked other stakeholders to study the feasibility of the service. “We hope the service will help mitigate the mushrooming of unorganised transport mediums such as e-rickshaws and Gramin Sewa services in Delhi-NCR, which not only block the entry-exit points of Metro stations, but also create pollution,” a DMRC official said.

Delhi has over one lakh e-rickshaws but only 35,000 are legal. “They not only cause traffic jams, but also are safety hazard both for passengers and the owners,” a government official said. Apart from this, Delhi lacks legal charging points and some cases of owners getting electrocuted while charging them at their houses have surfaced recently.

Challenges

The DMRC said that implementing the project in Delhi is not going to be easy. “In the National Capital Territory area, movement of e-rickshaws is banned on 236 roads. Of the 129 Metro stations in Delhi, only at 17 stations, the e-rickshaws are not included,” said a Metro official.

The DMRC has requested for permission to run e-rickshaws by aggregators or multiple registrations. Permission for advertisement and exclusivity in the operating areas has also been sought. “The transport department and the Delhi Police need to give their go-ahead now,” the official said.