Delhi HC Directs Call Centre Cabs To Maintain Speed Limit

Delhi HC Directs Call Centre Cabs To Maintain Speed Limit 1/16/2009 The Delhi High Court dismissed the petition of call centre cab operators seeking quashing of Delhi Police Commissioner’s order which fixed the speed limit of the light commercial vehicles (LCV) at 40 km per hour. A bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar while dismissing the petition filed by Gurgaon based All Haryana Tourist Transport Welfare Association said, ‘We do not find any merit in the contention that call centre cabs cannot be treated as light vehicles.’ The Court held that the Deputy Commissioner of Police(traffic) while issuing directions to govern the speed limits of the vehicles acted within the scope and powers conferred upon him by the act. The Association had challenged the DCP(traffic) order of October 1997, which had fixed the speed limit for light motor vehicles at 40 kmph as illegal and ultra vires. ‘The order to treat the cabs as light motor vehicles and to put a sealing on its speed limit is arbitrary and discriminatory,’ the petitioners said and sought the quashing of Delhi Control of Vehicular and Other Traffic and Road and Street Regulations Act 1980. The bench held that classifying the call centres cabs, which are ferrying the call centre employees, different from the private vehicles for the purpose of maximum speed limit cannot be termed as illegal as it does not suffer from the vice of arbitrariness or discrimination. Pursuant to the Delhi High Court order in the case of Blue Line Buses on November 19, 2007, the traffic police issued that the maximum speed limit for all transport vehicles and TCR to be 40 KM per hour and the maximum speed limit for jeep, cars and two wheelers was fixed as 50-60 km per hour. The cab owners challenged this order stating that since they are not Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) so they do not fall under such notification. The petitioner further said the government under section 112(1) of MV Act has stipulated the maximum speed in public places for LMV’s at 65 kmph which was higher than 40 kmph fixed by the Delhi traffic police. The Cab owners assured the Court that steps are being taken to curb the accidents on the roads but it is not possible to curtail the speed of a car to 40 kmph on a highway, therefore, the notification of Delhi police is arbitrary and violative of MV act, it said. UNI

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