Delhi govt data on passenger e-rickshaws shows a glimpse of the city’s sharply uneven mobility map, highlighting how this unsafe mode of transport often fills gaps left by an inadequacy of regulated last-mile connectivity.
The city has more than double the number of active and registered e-rickshaws than autorickshaws. Unlike auto drivers, most e-rickshaw operators lack driving licences and uniforms, and are frequently seen flouting basic traffic rules by driving on the wrong side, raising serious safety concerns for their passengers and other commuters. They also trigger congestion on roads by parking their vehicles haphazardly.
Delhi has a shade over 2 lakh registered e-rickshaws, apart from an unspecified number of unregistered ones. At 46,150, Rohini has the most active e-rickshaws, followed by Wazirpur (30,252) and Loni Road (28,858). Together, they account for more than half of the city’s registered fleet, highlighting the heavy reliance on this mode of transport in north and east Delhi. In contrast, the upscale Vasant Vihar has just 234 e-rickshaws. South Delhi has a total of 7,806 and Mall Road 8,184.
The number of e-rickshaws in Janakpuri (26,661), Dwarka (20,223), Rajouri Garden (10,327), Mayur Vihar (9,647) and Surajmal Vihar (8,499) show how they have quietly become vital last-mile links for commuters, especially women, the elderly and students.
Atul Goyal, president of United Resident Joint Action Force, a network of 2,500 Resident Welfare Associations across Delhi, said, “Underage people driving e-rickshaws is a common sight. They treat our neighbourhoods like playgrounds and make reckless, erratic U-turns in the middle of heavy traffic with zero regard for safety. Despite constant demand of RWAs for maintaining order on roads, govt is yet to take concrete steps to curb this menace,” said Goyal.
Fire safety is another major concern. A former Delhi Fire Service chief said many residential blazes sparked by illegally charging e-rickshaws had broken out in the past. “In June last year, two people died in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden when a massive fire was caused by such an illegal charging setup. As there are no proper charging stations for these vehicles, it is common to see drivers drawing power from informal sources, sometimes even from their own houses,” he said.
A govt official said in the absence of designated stands or lanes for e-rickshaws, they swarm the same transit points in neighbourhoods and markets as other vehicles, creating traffic bottlenecks and leaving roads clogged.
“An e-rickshaw can carry four people besides the driver, but many, especially in north Delhi, are crammed with seven to eight passengers. The structure of an e-rickshaw is not strong enough to carry so much load. Their braking system is poor, which makes these vehicles unstable as well,” a transport department official said.
These safety concerns had been flagged at many meetings in the past, and several such vehicles were impounded. However, the drive against them was discontinued owing to lack of space to keep the impounded e-rickshaws, he added.
Amit Bhatt, managing director (India) of International Council on Clean Transportation, said: “The sharp rise in e-rickshaws in Delhi is driven by two structural factors. First, a long-standing ban on registration of new auto-rickshaws has limited the supply of regulated last-mile services. Also, rapid growth in travel demand, coupled with gaps in bus and metro connectivities, have created space for informal solutions to step in. To address this issue, govt will have to improve the last-mile link through formal transport options and consider lifting the ban on new auto-rickshaws.”>
