Pizza delivery bikes and other motorcycles used for delivering items will soon get legalized design. Only bikes with legal design will be permitted to operate on the streets of India.
The Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) will be pushing out a new rule to require legalized design on pizza delivery bikes and motorcycles that deliver goods, as per The Times of India. Because of the increasing number of pizza bikes running on the streets, the new rule will only allow operation of delivery bikes with the legal design.
The current CMV rules of 1989 states that motorcycles used for delivering pizzas and other items are not allowed to change their designs. According to a regional transport office (RTO) official, this means that all delivery bikes are operating illegally.
A specific legal shape of delivery bikes has been issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). It states that, " A box not exceeding 550mm in length, 510mm in width and 500mm in height may be fitted on a motor cycle for carriage of any items: provided also that no pillion rider shall be allowed on a motor cycle on which a box as specified has been fitted".
Transport commissioner K Ravinder Naik said that they have asked for suggestions from states regarding specific box measurements on delivery bikes. "We have sent our proposal to the Centre on this," said Naik. The notification was sent to the Central government on October 19, 2015, which was considered a move forward to the right direction.
It is still undecided if the legal design should be implemented by manufacturers and if bikes can later be altered. A transport commissioner said that delivery bikes would officially get legalized when the amendment is ratified.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that a new traffic law has been passed by the Delhi government to reduce air pollution. The new odd-even rule, applicable from 8AM to 8PM on Monday to Saturday, only permits vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers to drive on even-numbered dates. The same rule applies to odd-numbered vehicles.
Under the law, larger vehicles running on diesel, minivans, and sports-utility cars are temporarily banned from the streets of Delhi. Only motorcycles, scooters and vehicles powered by naturally compressed gas are operational.
News World India reported that the plan seemed to have been successful on the first day of implementation. "I am truly overwhelmed by the response we have received so far. There are very few even-numbered cars on the roads. The plan seems to have been successful," said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Violators of the rule will be penalized with a 2,000 rupee fine. Kejriwal said they are considering to ban motorcycles and scooters if the experiment shows good results.
