A drafted legislation mandates that all vehicles be electric by April 1, 2030.

According to the Delhi government's proposed aggregator policy, all cab companies, food delivery services, and online retailers must switch to all-electric fleets by April 1, 2030, or face a punishment of Rs 50,000 per vehicle. The government is seeking input on the "Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator Scheme" draught policy within the next three weeks, which has been posted on the website of the Transport Department.

The proposed rules also specifies how cab aggregators should deal with disloyal drivers.

Aggregator is expected to take immediate action against any driver partners who have 15% or more complaints for trips they have taken in the past month. The Aggregator shall retain and collect the aforementioned data for a minimum of three months from the date on which the service was rendered, It read.

The regulation requires the aggregator to do corrective trainings and other corrective steps for drivers who have received ratings of less than 3.5 during the course of a year.

It stated that "The Aggregator should provide quarterly reports on driver ratings and grievances received against the drivers to the Transport Department, Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), and that all records with regard to driver ratings and grievances registered shall be available for inspection by the Transport Department/authorized officials of GNCTD."

The policy includes provisions and instructions on licensing and other matters pertaining to aggregators offering passenger transport services as well as regulation of other delivery aggregators offering delivery service of goods and commodities, including last-mile delivery service providers in the national capital.

Within the first six months of the policy's announcement, 10% of the new three-wheelers that taxi aggregators board must be electric vehicles, and within four years of the scheme's notice, 100% must be.

After three years have passed after the scheme's notice, the aggregators may only use new electric three-wheelers for passenger transportation. Additionally, the Aggregator must convert to an all-electric fleet by April 1, 2030. The current conventional cars that the Aggregator is carrying on board will be subject to a fine and challan.

Likewise, it states that 5% of the new fleet of four-wheelers purchased by aggregators within six months of the notification of the policy should be electric vehicles. This percentage is to rise to 15% within nine months, 25% by the end of one year, 50% by the end of two years, 75% by the end of three years, and 100% by the end of four years. By April 1, 2030, all of the fleet's cars should be electric.

"The aggregator will not be permitted to register any new on-boarded vehicles if it does not achieve the minimum electric vehicle fleet requirement in cases when it does not fulfill the fleet conversion objectives of the program. The aggregator would be responsible for paying a fine of Rs 50,000 each conventional car it operates or manages in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi after April 1, 2030," It said.

Additionally, according to the draft, aggregators may charge a fee with maximum surge pricing as long as it doesn't reach double the basic fare as set by the Transport Department, GNCTD from time to time.

The guideline further specifies that aggregators offering on-demand passenger transportation services must ensure proper operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) installed in the car and quickly address any problems that could arise.

Aggregator is responsible for ensuring that the Driver follows the route specified in the App and, in the event of non-compliance, notifies the Driver and the Rider via their respective mobile applications.

Before the start of each journey, the Aggregator must set up a mechanism on the App to certify that the Driver's identity matches that of the Driver who signed up with the Aggregator, either by verification or confirmation from the Rider.

It was emphasized that the aggregator's app had to be legal, and it stated that companies offering passenger transportation services had to set up call centers with working email addresses and phone numbers that were prominently displayed on the app and were open around the clock. Assistance would be given to the driver and end-user in Hindi and English.

In reference to any unfortunate accident or event endangering a Rider's safety, which may have resulted from some act or omission of the Driver on an assigned journey, "Aggregator should offer uttermost cooperation with investigative authorities."

In accordance with previous written notification, the policy also aims to give the Transport Department the authority to request information and documentation from the aggregator in any event where the end-user has lodged a complaint against the driver or services offered by an aggregator.

For the Aggregator to be able to update the information on the vehicles and Drivers associated with them, the Transport Department, GNCTD, should grant access to a web-based portal. Regardless of everything stated in this paragraph, the Transport Department, GNCTD, shall periodically establish additional criteria for Aggregators in cooperation with pertinent regulatory agencies, It said.

Aggregators engaged in passenger transportation must set up a 24 hour a day operating center, Command and Control Center (CCC), or information center in the nation's capital.

All of the drivers and the vehicles they have on board the Aggregator should be able to be tracked by the Operating Centre/CCC at all times. The Operating Center/CCC should have access to all information pertaining to the Origin-Destination of any trip booked through the app, the Route of the journey, and the state of the panic button, It said.

The policy further stated that the Operating Center/CCC shall be able to access and give the Transport Department with all information regarding all complaints/grievances made by the rider(s)/consumer(s) and the steps taken to address them.

"Additionally, the Operating Center/CCC should have access to all data regarding the number of operating vehicles, the number of other state vehicles providing services in the NCT of Delhi, journeys made from the NCT of Delhi, and additional data analytics. The Transport Department, GNCTD, may request such data with advance written notification. The Aggregator should give the GNCTD (Transport Department) online access to the Aggregator's grievance resolution procedure," It said.

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