No Number Plate, No Licence, No Helmet Rule: Bengaluru Wants To Change That For Delivery E-Bikes
Written By: Shatrughan Jha
Published: April 3, 2026 at 08:20 PM
Updated: April 3, 2026 at 08:20 PM
Under the current Motor Vehicles Act, any electric two-wheeler with a motor rated below 250 watts and a top speed under 25 km/h is completely exempt from registration, driving licence requirements, and helmet enforcement. These are the low-speed electric bikes, often used by delivery workers, that are currently legally free from these regulations in Bengaluru. No number plate is required, no RTO paperwork needed, and a teenager aged 16 can legally ride one without any formal documentation.
For riders and aggregators, this has made these vehicles extremely attractive for last-mile delivery due to their cost-effectiveness and compliance advantages.
However, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh has identified this exemption as a serious enforcement gap. He has indicated that the department is actively exploring bringing these vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act because delivery riders on these unregistered bikes are generating a disproportionate number of traffic violations.
The scale of the violation problem:
The numbers from Bengaluru Traffic Police are clear:
- Between 2023 and 2025, delivery riders committed 1,46,839 traffic violation cases across the city.
- The trend is rising steadily: 30,968 cases in 2023, 52,153 in 2024, and 63,718 in 2025 (up to November).
- The eastern division covering Whitefield, KR Puram, Indiranagar, and Halasuru accounted for 73,971 of those cases over three years.
- Whitefield subdivision alone contributed over 25,000 violations.
These violations include:
- Wrong-side riding
- Footpath riding
- Riding against one-way traffic
- Signal jumping
- Illegal parking
Because low-speed e-bikes carry no registration plates, police cannot issue challans or trace riders after a violation.
A separate crackdown in late 2024 saw police file nearly 6,000 cases against e-commerce delivery personnel in a single day across the city, collecting Rs 30.57 lakh in fines. The most common offences included:
- Pillion riders without helmets
- No-parking violations
- Riding into no-entry zones
- Footpath riding
What the proposed change would mean:
If these bikes are brought under the Motor Vehicles Act, several requirements would come into effect:
- Registration: Vehicles would need to be registered with the RTO and carry number plates.
- Driving Licence: Riders would require a valid driving licence.
- Helmet Enforcement: Helmets would become mandatory.
- Aggregator Accountability: Aggregators would need to ensure their fleets comply before deployment.
This change would pose significant operational challenges for platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and Blinkit, which collectively employ over one crore gig workers nationwide. Many delivery fleets specifically use sub-250W bikes because they avoid registration and compliance costs. Mandatory registration and licensing would add both upfront costs and administrative burden.
The Police Commissioner has also called for companies themselves to be held accountable for their riders’ conduct on the road. The argument is that, given the tight delivery timelines imposed by these platforms, they bear some responsibility for the resulting risky behavior.