Noida: FIR against owner after minor found driving e-rickshaw

Noida: The Noida traffic police has registered a first information report (FIR) against an e-rickshaw owner for letting a minor drive his vehicle in Noida, police said on Monday, adding that more cases will be lodged if any juvenile is caught driving these vehicles in the Gautam Budh Nagar district.

“On March 27, when Noida traffic police were conducting checking against the menace caused by auto rickshaws and e-rickshaws at the Sector 15 roundabout in Phase-1, a minor was caught driving the vehicle,” said Noida’s deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Lakhan Singh Yadav.

Taking cognisance of the violation, traffic sub-inspector Rajendra Singh filed a complaint at the Phase 1 police station, and a case under sections 125 (act endangering life or personal safety) and 199(a) (knowingly disobeying any direction of the law) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against the vehicle owner Umesh, a resident of Sector 10 and the vehicle was seized.

“We will take strict action against vehicle owners if they violate traffic rules, and an FIR will be registered as well if a minor is caught driving,” the DCP added.

Notably, the auto rickshaw and e-rickshaw menace has increased in the district and often disrupts traffic on main carriageways. Like the Sector 16, 18, Atta Market, and Botanical Garden are key junctions in Noida where traffic crawls due to the increased number of these vehicles.

On Sunday, the traffic police fined 1,008 autos and e-rickshaws in the district as part of its ongoing fortnight-long drive since March 25 against auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws. The drive aims to maintain a record of drivers, faulty number plates, valid licenses, and underage driving to curb the menace caused by them.

Multiple teams of traffic police, under the supervision of all traffic inspectors and traffic sub-inspectors, are deployed at key junctions of the district, such as Sector 16, 18, Botanical Garden, and Gaur Chowk, to conduct checks.

According to the transport department, “There are more than 18,000 registered auto-rickshaws and 23,000 e-rickshaws in the district as of February 2025.”

Meanwhile, Gautam Budh Nagar transport department will also carry out a month-long parallel drive from April 1 against autos and e-rickshaws. “On the direction of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, we will conduct an extensive drive in April. The report will be submitted to the administration every Friday,” said Udit Narayan Pandey, assistant regional transport officer (ARTO-enforcement).

According to the Noida traffic police data, 3,104 e-rickshaws; and 2,800 autos were fined in January and February. Apart from this, 383 autos and 399 e-rickshaws were seized in the same period.