5-year-old e-rickshaws in Lucknow to be considered "unfit", RTO declares

In a setback for over 2,000 e-rickshaw drivers in the city, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has declared that e-rickshaws in Lucknow, which are more than 5-years old, will be declared "unfit". The purpose behind the step is an effort towards taking dilapidated e-rickshaws off the streets of Lucknow.

Senior RTO officials have expressed concerns about such e-rickshaws being prone to accidents. Elaborating on the decision, the officials said that ill-conditioned e-rickshaws pose a threat to themselves, as well as everyone else on the road.

E-rickshaws are widely believed in Lucknow to be a traffic-inducing menace. But apart from that, they're also more prone to overturning, and toppling over, due to being lightweight. In addition to that, old e-rickshaws which are missing a headlight or indicator pose an even greater risk of causing serious accidents.

In fact, according ARTO Akhilesh Dwivedi, decrepit e-rickshaws resulted in 23 accidents between January 2022 and December 2022. In these accidents, two people lost their lives while 21 got injured. Hence, this step by Lucknow RTO to remove a huge chunk of such run down e-rickshaws from the roads of Lucknow.