Power discoms to crack down on drivers of e-rickshaws who charge vehicles illegally
NEW DELHI: To curb the increasing cases of power theft for charging e-rickshaws, power distribution companies in the Capital have initiated a crackdown against errant drivers.
According to officials in the transport department, Delhi has over 1 lakh e-rickshaws. Apart from this, there are about 100 small unorganised small-scale workshops small where these e-rickshaws are assembled, kits for which are mostly imported from China.
Discoms estimate that on an average, these e-rickshaws consume around 7-10 units every day and most of them run on stolen electricity. This comes to about 2,500-3,600 units per rickshaw per annum. “Every month they steal electricity worth `14 to `18 crore. On an annual basis, this comes to a whopping `170 crore to over `200 crore. It is a big issue for us,” said a BSES official.
E-rickshaw drivers charge their vehicles with the help of live wires which is not only causing monetary loss to the discoms, but is also a major safety risk. There were two cases of electrocution last month itself. In one case, a couple was electrocuted while they were charging their e-rickshaw in Delhi’s Aman Vihar. In another case, a person got electrocuted in Rohini while illegally charging his e-rickshaw.
Explaining how they operate, a worker at one such station said, “E-rickshaw owners or drivers pay fixed money in the range of `70 to `100 per day to the ‘parking and charging’ mafia. It takes between 6-7 hours to charge an e- rickshaw and charging usually takes place at night.”
They use current in boom barriers and other fixtures at parking lots. E-rickshaws are also charged in residential areas.
To curb this menace, discoms have begun to extensively register cases in special courts. Data with two power utilities indicate that in the past few weeks, over 50 cases of power theft have been booked.
“Some of the cases have been filed in the Special Court and over 20 are in the process of being filed. Collectively, direct theft of electricity of over 500 KW was unearthed. Each booked case is an illegal charging point, which provides charging to 100-250 e-rickshaws on a daily basis,” the official added.
Most of these e-riskshaws are charged in batches as part of an organised illegal network controlled by the local strongman/mafia.
E-rickshaws are illegally charged in batches, which can be more than 50 at a time. Areas where they operate include Keshampuram, Civil Lines, Raghubir Nagar, Tagore Garden, Madipur,Sangam Vihar, Batla House , Kalka Ji,Sarai Kale khan, Dakshin Puri East Sagarpur, Seelampur.