With BRICS 2026 being held in the national capital, traffic restrictions and diversions are in place in New Delhi facilitating high profile VVIP movement.

The traffic police have put in place 12-hour restrictions on 35 roads and enabled diversions at 22 points.

This has caused a drop in earnings for auto rickshaws, e-rickshaws and delivery workers in New Delhi and Central Delhi districts.

Slum settlement in south Delhi veiled for BRICS Summit Pawan, a 19-year-old gig worker from Darjeeling, said that he started working just a week ago, of which two days’ worth of earnings were taken away by traffic restrictions.

Keep track | BRICS Summit 2026 LIVE updates: India focused on four pillars: resilience, innovation, cooperation, sustainability, says PM Modi “A lot of my rides come from ITO, Delhi Gate, Mandi House up to Chanakyapuri due to offices and colleges in the area.

When there are no rides, there are delivery orders.

But for the past two days, rides have been significantly low, and order deliveries are taking time as there are traffic blockages on the roads,” he said.

The workers are avoiding picking up orders and rides from the area.

“A woman who wanted to visit the RML hospital from Nizamuddin.

We were stuck in traffic for over an hour.

I didn’t pick any rides after that,” said Mahavir Pal, an auto driver.

“I had started facing the brunt of it on Friday (September 11, 2026) itself with a 10 minute ride taking half an hour in the area,” he said.

BRICS 2026 beyond the Declaration: An Indian feast, Bollywood tunes by the Malaysian PM, and more “VVIPs are coming, and the traffic police are saying there is minimal inconvenience to the public.

Not being able to work is not convenient,” he added.

Lakshman, a 32-year-old gig worker said that earnings dropped from ‘1,000 a day’ to ‘400 on Saturday (September 12, 2026)’.

“People are preferring to take metro and are avoiding roads.

We would get rides from around CP, Janpath, Barakhamba Road, Mandi House, even on a slow day but with traffic restrictions in place, people are avoiding road travel or facing jams in the area,” he said.

ALSO WATCH BRICS Declaration adopted: How India bridged Iran-UAE divide Drivers also said they have moved business to other parts of the city, where they usually do not go.

“I came to Vasant Vihar, Hauz Khas, AIIMS, while I usually pick up rides from New Delhi Railway Station.

But got stuck in traffic here too” said Shivkumar Sharma, another auto driver.

On Sunday (September 13), traffic is expected to get worse due to 12-hour restrictions as well as the India-Afghanistan T20 cricket match at Arun Jaitley Stadium in the evening.

The traffic police have released a detailed advisory and urged citizens to avoid areas around the stadium and use the metro for travel.