Maha to reduce plying age limit of auto-rickshaws to 15 years

Old auto-rickshaws won't be able to ply on roads from August 1, 2021 in the MMR

Maharashtra State Transport Authority (STA) has decided to bring down the age limit of auto-rickshaws to 15 years from the existing 20 years in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and other parts of the state on par with taxis, a transport department official said on Monday.

As per the decision, autorickshaws older than 15 years won't be able to ply on roads from August 1, 2021 in the MMR, while the deadline for the same in the rest of the state is August 1, 2024.

The STA chaired by state transport secretary approved the decision in its meeting held on September 24, the official told PTI.

The STA, a quasi-judicial body, took the decision to cap the age of auto-rickshaws on the basis of a recommendation to this effect made by a panel headed by former IAS officer BC Khatua.

The Khatua committee had submitted its report to the Maharashtra government in October 2017, which accepted majority of its suggestions including fixing the age of auto-rickshaws.

Maharashtra has over 10 lakh auto-rickshaws.

Earlier, a decision to cap the plying age of auto-rickshaws and taxis was taken by the STA on August 1, 2013 on the basis of recommendations made by Hakim Panel, the official said.

Before 2013, auto-rickshaws had no age bar, though the STA had set the age limit of 25 years for taxis in 2010.