LUCKNOW, July 12 -- Nearly a year after Project Safe Ride was launched to improve commuter safety through QR code-based police verification, only 27,741 of Lucknow's 1.36 lakh registered auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws have been covered under the initiative, an HT analysis has found. Official Regional Transport Office (RTO) data shows Lucknow has 1.36 lakh registered e-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, while traffic police records show only 27,741 vehicles have so far been brought under the verification system. This means nearly 1.08 lakh registered vehicles remain outside the initiative. When then DCP (traffic) Kamlesh Dixit, along with joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar, launched Project Safe Ride on July 29, 2025, it was projected as a technology-driven initiative to improve commuter safety, particularly for women. Police had also announced that from September 1, 2025, three-wheelers without QR codes would not be allowed to ply on city roads and that a strict enforcement drive would follow. Nearly a year later, however, the rollout remains limited. Traffic police data shows that only around 16,000 three-wheelers had completed the verification process till June 13. The figure has since risen to 27,741, according to DCP (traffic) Raveena Tyagi. "Within almost a month, we increased registrations by more than 10,000," Tyagi told HT, attributing the increase to sustained registration drives across the city. Despite the recent rise, however, the verification system still covers only around 20% of the city's registered three-wheeler fleet. Lucknow's three-wheeler fleet has witnessed exponential growth over the past decade. RTO records show the city had just 892 registered e-rickshaws in 2015. After e-rickshaws were brought under the Motor Vehicles Act in 2016, registrations increased steadily, with the number of registered e-rickshaws reaching 92,283 by the end of 2025. Including e-autos, the city's registered three-wheeler fleet now stands at 1.36 lakh. E-rickshaw operators said the slow progress of Project Safe Ride is not due to reluctance among drivers but because of procedural and technical hurdles. Mayank Srivastava, president of the E-Rickshaw Chalak Kalyan Samiti, said drivers cannot update or remove their details from the QR system on their own and often have to visit the Safe City office in Lalbagh even for minor corrections....