Jaipur: The administration in Jaipur has officially enacted the e-rickshaw zone segregation policy formulated by the previous Congress govt. As of Friday, all seven designated zones have been established, restricting e-rickshaws to operate solely within their allocated areas.From Friday, each e-rickshaw travelled only within its allotted zone and was not allowed to carry passengers from one zone to another. In simple words, e-rickshaws operated more like a stage carriage than a contract carriage.DCP (traffic) Sumeet Meharda stated each of the seven zones was designated with a specific colour. For example, it was blue for the North zone. All e-rickshaws will have a sticker on the windscreen with the details of the owners. The sticker’s background would be of the same colour designated for the zone the e-rickshaw have been allotted.“At present we have capped the maximum number of e-rickshaws in Jaipur city to 30,000 and we already have more than 28,000 valid e-rickshaws. Another 1.5K new e-rickshaws have to be allotted zones. However, in future after every five years an e-rickshaws will have to replaced. So, the new replacement will automatically get allotted in its old zone,” Meharda stated.Traffic officials said the policy was implemented to ensure equal distribution of e-rickshaws across the city. At present, more than 90% of e-rickshaws ran inside Walled City and areas encircling the Walled City.On Friday, with the policy in place, passengers were not able to book an e-rickshaw or take a shared e-rickshaw from Laxmi Mandir Tiraha on Tonk Road till Choti Chaupad or Badi Chaupad in Walled City. Walled City was one of the seven zones, and e-rickshaws allotted to run inside Walled City were not allowed to run outside.Even inside Walled City, five different routes were specified, with 50 e-rickshaws allotted on each route. These 250 e-rickshaws will not travel anywhere, violating the alignments of these five routes.“E-rickshaws are not ideally meant for long-distance travel. This system will decongest the areas inside and outside Walled City, ensure all areas of the city have enough e-rickshaws for locals and will boost local transportation for the residents,” an official added.
