Food delivery wheels in a jam

1,366 food aggregator delivery persons booked in two weeks for wrong side driving and driving without helmet

In a special drive initiated by the Mumbai traffic police from April 5-18, as many as 1,366 errant drivers employed by food aggregators were penalised and issued challans for various violations, but mainly wrong side driving and driving without helmet. These challans were issued to delivery personnel of major aggregators like Dominos, Zomato, Swiggy and Uber Eats. In a major two-week crackdown across the city, violators were booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act.

As per data shared by the traffic police, 1,124 drivers were booked for wrong side driving, while 242 were booked for riding without a helmet.

The police swung into action and began penalising them after an alarming number of complaints poured in on social media. Before initiating action, the police held a meeting with the companies and informed them to instruct their delivery personnel to abide by the traffic rules or face consequences in the form of fines.

A senior traffic police official said delivery personnel often drive rashly to meet deadlines and not miss the fast delivery tag, which eventually earns them points. “They put their own lives and that of pedestrians at risk as they sometimes take footpaths to zip past traffic,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

Last year, the police had set up a meeting with food aggregator companies, wherein officials had asked the firms to go easy on timely delivery policy and not to

cut employee incentives due to late delivery as it leads to reckless driving, further endangering lives. The aggregators were also asked to educate their riders about the importance of rules, while encouraging patrons of the app to be patient when a delivery is late and not to verbally abuse or harass the agents.