Hyderabad: The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union submitted a representation to the state transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar and other government officials over violations of Central Motor Vehicles Rules(CMVR) in the deployment of electronic scooters by rental companies.
The representation invited the government’s attention to the gross violation of General Security Rules(GSR) 291 (E), providing relaxation for low-speed electric scooters.
According to the union representation, electric vehicle rental agencies nationwide are buying thousands of mid-speed and high-speed e-scooters and deploying them as low-speed ones. The toll of such violations has reportedly been increasing with new e-vehicle rental startups entering the market daily.
Tie-ups made by rental agencies with companies such as Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart, etc allow boarding gig workers as their delivery partners without proper licensing and security requirements.
The GSR 291(E) exemptions are manipulated by the rental agencies by measures such as tampering the odometer by showing a speed less than the legal 25 kmph. In general, these vehicles either completely lack the type approval certificates(TAC) or have trifled the conditions mentioned under it. The motor power of some of these vehicles are as high as 500 Watts against the 250 Watts prescribed upper limit.
The union appealed to ensure the safety of gig workers and the rest of the general public by initiating proper action.
