Four delivery riders booked for tampering with speed limit of e-bikes

MUMBAI: Four delivery riders have been booked and fined for allegedly tampering with their e-bikes to increase their speed beyond the permissible limit of 25 kph. The four accused, who the police did not identify, were caught by the traffic police on December 13 for allegedly speeding and riding rashly on the Western Express Highway near Samata Nagar in Kandivali.

According to the traffic police, the accused either tampered with the speed lock on the e-bikes provided by their employers or changed the electric motor of the vehicles to make them go faster. E-bikes are supposed to have a maximum speed of 25 kph, but traffic police officers intercepted the accused in December after noticing they were riding at a speed that seemed to be over 40 kph.

Upon examination, the Samata Nagar traffic police observed that the speed metres of two of the bikes were locked. Senior police inspector Jagdish Bhople then requested the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to examine the bikes. The RTO confirmed that the bikes had been tampered with, after which the police registered an FIR against the riders under section 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for rash and negligent riding.

Traffic police officers said that when they intercepted the riders, they did not fear getting fined because vehicles with engines of up to 25cc and a maximum speed of 25 kph are not covered under the Motor Vehicles Act. To address this, the traffic police booked them under the relevant section in the BNS.

“The RTO has fined the riders ₹4,000 each for rash riding under sections of the Motor Vehicles Act,” said a traffic police officer. “We also submitted all the documents confirming the tampering with the speed limit of the e-bikes.”

Since August 2024, the traffic police have seized 1,850 e-bikes as part of a drive against rash riding.