To,

Shri Rajiv Kumar (Chief Election Commissioner)
Shri Gyanesh Kumar (Election Commissioner)
Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (Election Commissioner)
Election Commission of India

Sir,

Section 160 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 states under (1)(b) that

(1) If it appears to the State Government that in connection with an election held within the State
1[(a) any premises are needed or are likely to be needed for the purpose of being used as polling stations, for counting, for storage of ballot boxes, voting machines (including voter verifiable paper audit trail) and poll related material after a poll has been taken, accommodation for security forces and polling personnel; or]
(b) any vehicle, vessel or animal is needed or is likely to be needed for the purpose of transport of ballot boxes to or from any polling station, or transport of members of the police force for maintaining order during the conduct of such election, or transport of any officer or other person for performance of any duties in connection with such election,
that Government may by order in writing requisition such premises, or such vehicle, vessel or animal, as the case may be, and may make such further orders as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient in connection with the requisitioning:
2[Provided that such premises shall be requisitioned after the issuance of the notification by the Election Commission under section 30 for such election till the date notified under clause (e) thereof:
Provided further that] no vehicle, vessel or animal which is being lawfully used by a candidate or his agent for any purpose connected with the election of such candidate shall be requisitioned under this sub-section until the completion of the poll at such election.

In the State of West Bengal, this has resulted in both commercially registered and private vehicles being requisitioned by local law enforcement. As recently reported, there is so much fear of vehicles being requisitioned that a parallel system of “fake” requisition papers is being created.

This forceful, ad-hoc, arbitrary and discretionary requisitioning of private vehicles for the elections presents new challenges for the registered owners and other users of these vehicles.

• Damage to the vehicles during usage - in the absence of any proper assurance around using the vehicle appropriately and as recommended by the manufacturer, there is a risk of the vehicle, including major components, being damaged. Any such damage to components such as the engine or transmission system will not be immediately evident and not covered under insurance.
• Inconvenience to users' daily lives—a privately registered vehicle is generally used by family members, including school-going children and senior citizens who need medical services and for conveyance to and from offices. Requisitioning the vehicle presents significant challenges in adjusting the routine as even commercial vehicles, such as cabs, will be scarce—those are also being added to the vehicle roster for elections.
• Risks from insurance claims being denied - with the vehicle being requisitioned for election duty and in unknown hands, any damage or repair leading to insurance claims run the risks of being dismissed due to the terms and conditions of the policy, making such claims to be outside of the scope of claims.

We urge the ECI to reconsider the requisitioning of privately registered vehicles for elections and pass the appropriate orders through the DEOs to local law enforcement so that the requisitioning of private vehicles is stopped with immediate effect.