Policy at final stage to ban battery-run rickshaws from Dhaka's main roads

Battery-powered and electric rickshaws will not be allowed to operate on Dhaka's main roads, while registered e-rickshaws carrying up to four passengers will be permitted to run on internal roads, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam said today (30 August).

Six-passenger e-rickshaws will not be eligible for registration with either of the two Dhaka city corporations, he said while speaking to reporters after a meeting between Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Mohd Shuhada Othman and LGRD and Co-operatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan at the Secretariat.

Shahe Alam said the policy for regulating auto-rickshaws is at the final stage and will soon be sent to the law ministry for vetting.

"Once it comes back after vetting, we will issue it within a week or the following week, as quickly as possible," he said, adding that once the policy is issued, battery-powered rickshaws and e-rickshaws will come under a regulatory framework.

The proposed policy will make certification from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), and engineering universities and automobile departments of government polytechnic institutes at the district level mandatory for registration of e-rickshaws, the state minister said.

He said a traffic department fitness certificate will also be required before any e-rickshaw can be registered.

"We will not provide registration without certification from Buet, engineering universities, and the automobile departments of government polytechnic institutes at the district level, as well as fitness certification from the traffic department," Shahe Alam said.

Registration will be issued by city corporations and municipalities, he said.

The policy will also have provisions on charging points for e-rickshaws, the state minister said. "The government plans to gradually introduce solar-powered charging facilities and eventually make solar charging mandatory."

Charging points will also require licences from the relevant city corporation or municipality, depending on their location, he added.

Shahe Alam said e-rickshaws are being manufactured indiscriminately at different locations, including Dhaka, while the government has no specific data on the number of such factories.

Under the proposed policy, manufacturers will also be brought under a regulatory framework, he said.

Factories producing e-rickshaws according to designs certified by Buet or engineering universities will have to be registered and obtain licences from the relevant city corporation or municipality, the state minister said.

Besides, the government is considering dividing Dhaka into eight zones — four in the north and four in the south — based on a proposal from the traffic department, he said.

Each zone will have a separate colour code, and e-rickshaws registered in one zone cannot operate in another, Shahe Alam said.

He said city corporations and the traffic department will jointly determine the routes on which e-rickshaws can operate. "Geofencing technology will also be introduced for the vehicles."

The state minister said e-rickshaws will not be allowed on major roads in the capital but will be permitted to operate on internal roads within designated zones.

He said introducing separate rickshaw lanes on major roads and ensuring orderly passenger boarding and drop-offs will be difficult and time-consuming. "We will not allow e-rickshaws on the main roads. We will create eight zones so that they can operate on internal roads," he said.

About the categories of e-rickshaws, Shahe Alam said, "We will divide them into three categories. In Dhaka, e-rickshaws will have a passenger capacity of two or four. We will not bring any six-passenger vehicle or e-rickshaw under the registration system of the Dhaka city corporations."

However, e-rickshaws carrying two, four or six passengers will be eligible for registration for operation in rural areas and rural roads in district towns, he said.