More than 1,500 bike taxi drivers have written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, demanding that they be given the same timeline for conversion to electric vehicles as their counterparts in delivery services.
The letter came a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approved a scheme for the regulation and licensing of aggregators providing passenger transport services and delivery service providers in the national capital.
The scheme also paves the way for bike taxis and mandates that the aggregators board electric two-wheelers for passenger services.
The file pertaining to the Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme 2023 has been submitted to the lieutenant governor’s office, according to an official statement.
According to the letter written by the drivers, “the scheme essentially states that only electric bike taxis would be allowed to run in Delhi, and bike taxis of other fuel types would become illegal to operate. By notifying the government of the said scheme, the government would stop our only source of income that not only supports me but my entire family.”
The letter has also been sent to Kejriwal, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.
“This would be a very unfortunate decision, as there may be a situation of mass unemployment in a scenario where inflation is already so high and surviving in a metro city has become difficult. For most of us, driving bike taxis is our only source of income to maintain a decent livelihood in these trying times,” it added.