Lockdown 4.0: With few passengers, E-rickshaws in Delhi face financial crisis

Drivers of e-rickshaws in the national capital are struggling to make ends meet amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Though the Centre and Delhi government have allowed e-rickshaws to resume plying on the roads again after close to two months of the shutdown, they said that they are facing acute financial problems.

"Work has been impacted negatively. There are not many passengers. Moreover, the passenger limit of only one person is prohibiting us from generating profit in the business," Prem Verma, one of the e-rickshaw drivers told ANI.

Another e-rickshaw driver, Pappu Yadav, said: "Earlier we used to carry four people in our e-rickshaws and now we are allowed to carry only one person. It has negatively impacted our earnings. There are very few passengers boarding e-rickshaws."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on May 4 said that ₹5000 financial assistance will be given to e-rickshaw owners who do not have Public Service Vehicle (PSV) badge.

"We are giving ₹5000 to PSV badge holders to help Delhi drivers during the lockdown. Meanwhile, we came to know that thousands of E-rickshaw owners do not have PSV badges. Today the Cabinet has decided to give ₹5,000 aid to all such E-rickshaw owners," CM Kejriwal had tweeted.

The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of Covid-19 is scheduled to end on May 31.