New Delhi, Apr 19: A special commercial licence would no longer be required for driving taxis, three-wheelers, e-rickshaws and two-wheelers (food delivery) as the government has allowed commercial drivers in these categories to use their personal driving licence. A commercial driving licence will remain mandatory for driving heavy vehicles like truck and buses.
The road and transport ministry, headed by Nitin Gadkari, issued a notification to his effect. It informed the state governments on Monday through the notification to follow this norm, in accordance with the Supreme Court order. The intent of the move was to provide employment opportunities.
Aspirants of commercial licences had to wait for at least a year to acquire the document. There was corruption involved in getting a licence.
However, there is a concern that the decision would mean more commercial vehicles plying on road, which would result in more congestion. However, experts say that passenger commercial vehicles will decrease personal vehicles, which will counterbalance the negative impact.
Transport minister Nitin Gadkari is considered one of the most performing ministers in the government. In his tenure, he introduced several measures to improve road travel, which includes rapid expansion of roads and doing away with archaic laws. Recently, he proposed a new rule which would make it mandatory to dispose of vehicles that are more than 20 years old.
“Old commercial vehicles are responsible for 65 per cent of the vehicular pollution. The policy to scrap these has got nod at a Secretary-level meeting at the PMO. Now stakeholders consultation will be done in a fortnight and it will go to the Cabinet in about a month’s time,” Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari said news agency in an interview.
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