The document discusses laws and policies in Delhi that negatively impact cycle rickshaw owners, operators, and pullers. It summarizes that: 1) Cycle rickshaws provide important livelihoods and transportation but face excessive fines, license quotas, and vehicle confiscation by authorities. 2) While over 600,000 rickshaws operate in Delhi, licenses have been capped at around 50,000, trapping most operators in illegality. Frequent raids result in lost vehicles and income. 3) The policies make it nearly impossible for pullers to own vehicles, forcing reliance on fleet owners who face ongoing harassment despite providing support. Over Rs. 200 crores are lost annually to b

1. 1 Laws, Liberty and Livelihood Government’s Warfare against Citizen Friendly, Eco-Friendly Cycle Rickshaws Manushi Sangathan, Phone: 011-23916437 Email: mail@manushi-india.org

3. Each rickshaw covers a distance of 20-25 kms per day amounting to a total of 120-150 lakh kms for city’s 600,000 rickshaws.

4. If rickshaws are removed from Delhi, it would involve an additional petrol expense of nearly 500,000 litres per day at the cost of Rs. 1.25 crores.

6. Savings from rickshaw pulling are sent home andhelp sustain their familiesin the village.

9. It provides doorstep service and is willing to take you from point to point at all odd hours.

11. 8 Efficient feeder service for metro rail and the city’s bus service which run on main routes. Rickshaws queued outside Metro stations in Delhi

13. 11 A Home and Rest Place Away from Home

14. 12 Linkages with Small Scale Industry Generates employment in small-scale industry that produces rickshaw parts as well as a source of livelihood for lakhs of mechanics all over India who assemble and repair this vehicle.

16. Till about three decades ago rickshaws were found plying mainly in the walled city area and lower middle class colonies of Delhi. Today, one sees them plying in many middle and upper class colonies.

21. In actual fact, even the licensed rickshaws are trapped in illegality due to several absurd regulations that govern this trade.

22. A person can own hundreds of trucks, buses and even jet planes BUT owning more than one cycle rickshaw is illegal.

25. Trucks, buses and taxis are not confiscated if the owners hire others to drive them.

26. By enacting a law that prohibits a person from owning more than one rickshaw and by insisting that “owner must also be puller” the government has in fact legislated that:

27. A person who begins his life as a puller, must die as a puller;

28. The poor must remain manual laborers all their lives;

29. The poor are not allowed to become even petty entrepreneurs.19

31. Today, with each new rickshaw costing over Rs 6000 this means a capital loss of Rs 360,000,000.

33. Earns a rent ofRs 25 to 35per day, depending on the state of the vehicle and the area in which it is plying.

34. Spends on an averageRs 300 per month on repairsand maintenance of the vehicle,bribesto the police and municipality, andlosses due to finesand confiscation of the vehicle.

36. Thus a rickshaw pullerearns at least 5 to 8 timesof what he pays by by way of rent.

37. By contrast, a man who hires a three-wheeler auto rickshaw pays Rs 250 per day towards the rental for the vehicle and earns on an average Rs 300 per day.

39. Rickshaw owners then run after municipal officials andtry to strike a bargainso that they can get the vehicle released before it is entered in the record book.

40. Once the vehicle is entered in the record book, the minimum fine for its release is Rs 325 if the owner manages to get it released the same day by bringing in the required documents to “prove” that the owner was actually pulling it.

41. Each day it stays in municipal yard, the owner pays astore charge ofRs. 25 per dayplus expenses on paper work all of which amount to no less than Rs 400.

42. After 15 days the vehicle cannot be released. It is meant to be crushed and sold as junk.This limit has now been reduced to 7 days.

44. 25 Click on photo for video clip Hundreds of rickshaws confiscated daily and dumped in municipal yards on the plea that they cause road congestion

45. 26 Confiscated Rickshaws Rickshaws in MCD Yard

46. 27 MCD Junk Yard under Safdarjang Flyover Click on photo for video clip

48. A new rickshaw costs about 6000 Rs. Even if you own 100 rickshaws, it represents a total capital of no more than Rs 600, 000.By contrast a truck costs no less than Rs 10 lakhs. Thus a person owning 100 trucks or buses owns a capital of no less than 10 crores.Why is upward mobility and entrepreneurial spirit treated as a virtual crime for those among the poor who manage to rise higher in life?

50. Pullers stay in the city for some months, save money and go home for some days or weeks.They have no way to keep their vehicles safe during their absence from the city.

51. Even when they are in the city, most sleep on pavements or share small jhuggis with fellow migrants. They have no place to park their vehicle safely at night.

54. Pullers can neither afford the time required in getting a license nor the risks involved in owning a rickshaw.

55. Licenses don’t come withoutheavy bribes and cumbersome legal procedures.

56. Since 2007, MCD has altogether stopped issuing or renewing puller licenses.

58. 33 Impossibility of Pullers Getting Licenses Click on photo for video clip

59. 34 When a Poor Man Tries to Own a Rickshaw Deepak Suri’s Story: Click on photo for video

60. 35 Devious Procedures for Issuing Licenses Testimony of Rickshaw Owner Darshan Singh Popli: Click on photo for video

61. 36 Code Words on rickshaws to indicate the “deal” made with MCD staff for unlicensed rickshaws

62. 37 Why Licensed Rickshaws are Special Targets of Confiscation Testimony of Rickshaw Owner, Shashi Kant Bhushan: Click on photo for video

64. Result? Daily bribes and beatings

67. In addition, there is regular loss of income due to confiscation and fines.

68. As per its admission in the High Court, the MCDdestroys and junks at least 60,000 rickshawsevery year involving aloss of Rs 360,000,000per year because today it costs over Rs 6000 to replace a lost vehicle.

70. 42 Who is the real mafia? Story of Sundar’s losses Many rickshaw owners started their lives as pullers and slowly built a fleet. Click on photo for video

71. 43 The Tribulations of Amarjeet Singh Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Poor Crushed by Government Click on photo for video

73. Rickshaw operators rent them the vehicle without any surety or security. Within a few hours they are able to not only earn enough to buy food the day but also to save something for sending home.

74. Since most pullers cannot afford proper shelter, they find greater safety in sleeping with other pullers in the rickshaw yards managed by the owners.

75. Fleet owners act as informal banks for pullers.Owners help them in emergencies specially if relations are good and long standing.

76. Some basic services like water, rest points and social life provided in the yard.

77. Owners provide some protection from harassment and arrest by the police

80. In the same order cycle rickshaws have been prohibited on the arterial roads of Delhi.

82. Considering that, under the current flawed Cycle-Rickshaw bye-laws, almost every rickshaw in this city is techincally “illegal” or unlicenced, this Resolution is impractical, unsustainable, and absurd.

84. The petition also requested that the Court order the MCD to providestands and parking for the safe keeping of rickshaws, affordable service stations and that seized licensed rickshaws be immediately released without penalty.

87. When a car is made to go slow due to traffic snarls it emits greater amounts of pollution and also damages the engine.

88. A rickshaw is intrinsically slow moving and therefore moves more easily in areas of congestion.A car takes at least four times road space as compared to a rickshaw not only because it is bigger in size but also because road safety demands at least 10-12 feet space between one motorized vehicle and another for safe driving.

91. Yet, in utter disregard of the needs of citizens without cars, our civic agencies provideno road space for non-motorized vehicles.

95. Provide year round open licensing system.

96. Scrap the “owner must be puller” policy.

97. End to confiscation and destruction of rickshaws.

98. Provide separate tracks for non motorized transport.

99. Fee based regulation of numbers rather than bureaucratic quotas.

100. Provide rickshaw stands as well as yards for safe keeping.

102. 57 A Tourist Attraction Rickshaws in Singapore

103. 58 Art on WheelsRickshaws in Dhaka

104. 59 Dignity of Labour The Malaysian Trishaw

105. 60 Economic reforms focused on the Corporate and organized sector which provide employment to no more than 3 % of India’s workforce Another 3-4 % are in government and public sector employment 93% of workforce is in the self-organised, informal sector, which is untouched by economic reforms. They remain poor because they are among the worst victims of sarkari tyranny and needless bureaucratic controls.

107. The self employed poor can rapidly move out of poverty if their livelihoods are freed from the web of illegality created by needless bureaucratic controls, just as export oriented corporate sector has become globally competitive with a mild dose of liberalization.