Hi-tech plan: biometric IDs for rickshaws next?

“Every rickshawpuller is to be issued a biometric badge. The traffic police will be provided with hand-held biometric badge readers to check the authenticity of the rickshaw puller,” said the proposal,placed before a Special Bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justices S Muralidhar and Ravinder Bhatt.

The traffic police can regularly check the number and authorisation of rickshawpullers if the biometric badges are introduced.

Bhatia told the court: “The traffic police will impart adequate training in rules and signages before a rickshawpuller is given a biometric badge to operate.” The government has also suggested that the Delhi municipality should consider adopting different colour codes for each city zone.

The proposal says registration charges for owner-pedalled rickshaws will be less than for those run by contractors. “The number of rickshaws should be regulated by keeping in mind the demand and carrying capacity of the road,” it states.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the NGO Manushi. The petition said the court’s order and the civic body’s policy of banning rickshaws from main arterial roads and Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi was arbitrary and violated fundamental rights of rickshawpullers.

Earlier,the court had pulled up the Delhi Police for being “insensitive” towards rickshawpullers in their effort to make Delhi a “world-class city”. The court would now take up the matter on Wednesday.