NITI Aayog working on plan to fix e-rickshaw, tempo mess in last-mile travel

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s chaotic public transportation system could be in for a major overhaul, with federal think tank NITI Aayog beginning work on a national framework for first- and last-mile mobility, according to two people aware of the development and a document reviewed by Mint.The move is significant given the scale of reliance on informal transit: an estimated 200–300 million Indians depend heavily on privately run rickshaws, tempos and minibuses for last-mile connectivity, with most tier-II, tier-III and smaller towns having limited public transport.The framework is to be finalized by a nominated committee of transportation sector experts, as well as officials from the ministries of road transport and highways, and housing and urban affairs, according to one of the two people cited above, who requested anonymity.“The target for this committee, headed by a NITI Aayog official, is to prepare a report in the next three months,” this person added.The second person cited above said that the move was prompted by the fact that there is currently no formal framework for a transport system widely used by the public. “The committee will try and figure out what can be done about establishing an oversight into this informal system of transport, which is growing rapidly,” the second person said.The document reviewed by Mint showed that government-run systems are available in just 66 of 496 Indian cities with populations above 100,000.

This forces commuters in most urban centres to rely on informal, and often unregulated, local transport networks.The consequences are visible across cities. India's latest economic survey for FY26, citing studies by various domestic and foreign organisations, noted that