In Dhaka’s alleys, the battery rickshaws are overpowering the pedal rickshaws and the fight for space has been a constant. Ban on battery rickshaws have been met with strong protest and the rickshaw pullers so far have had the final say.

What has caused this boom of battery rickshaws? Should battery rickshaws be banned or regulated? The debate among the policy-makers and experts usually ends up in a stalemate.

One group says battery rickshaws are helping to employ a large section of the unemployed and hence any regulation or ban will choke a key sector for informal jobs.

There is this other group who argue that battery rickshaws are causing unprecedented challenges in terms of road safety, traffic congestion, and therefore they must be regulated.

How do we weigh between these tensions? We do need to give the means to our people so that they can feed their families and jobs are scarce; but should it come at such a cost?

Data from Innovision Consulting’s latest report titled Urban Mobility -- Rickshaws in Transition show that the battery rickshaws have attracted a large number of youth in this informal sector.

The report shows that around 25% of the battery rickshaw drivers shifted from pedal to battery and the rest 75% of the battery rickshaw drivers are new entrants.

In both pedal and battery rickshaws, a large portion come from farming and day labour activities which potentially indicates rural-urban migration.

This is further validated by micro-finance institutions. According to them, they fail to provide loans to the rickshaw drivers as they lack an address that can be traced.

Most of the battery rickshaw drivers (60%) have less than two years of experience; this potentially means that the surge has happened between 2024 to present.

The report also shows that the battery rickshaws have drawn a younger work force -- 34% of the battery rickshaw drivers are in the age group 26-35; in stark contrast -- 8% of the pedal rickshaw drivers are in the same group.

There is not much difference in education though. Both pedal and battery rickshaw drivers are poorly educated -- almost 40% of the pedal rickshaw drivers and 35% of the battery rickshaw drivers do not have any formal education. Clearly, the transformation is led by the search for jobs.

Given this, we must ask, how realistic or plausible it is to enforce a ban or restriction if we are not creating jobs for this large informal work force? 

Besides, to understand the types of policies we need to bring order to the sector -- we must understand the social and economic conditions and the demand side incentives and influences that have proliferated the battery rickshaws.

Innovisions’s study shows that the rickshaw pullers have shifted to battery as it is less stressful to drive and there is increasing demand.

Consumers are saying that there is the risk of accidents -- one out of every three passengers in a battery rickshaw has been involved in an accident.

Yet, they want to use battery rickshaws because they find it convenient for their short commutes, with average commutes between 1-3 km.

One must ask: Why do people take a rickshaw for such short distance trips? The issue is that we do not have a culture to walk nor do we have a city where walking is feasible.

If all the people who are riding rickshaws begin to take footpaths, we will have to let go of a considerable portion of the roads. If you happen to be in Gulshan 1 circle, check the thousands of people walking through the Gulshan link road to come to Gulshan and you will understand the challenge that I am referring to.

We must improve walk-ways to mobilize this large number of pedestrians conveniently and efficiently.

The battery rickshaws offer more trips but not necessarily more income as the rickshawpullers have to pay rent. The average rent for a pedal rickshaw is around Tk130 per day while it is Tk414 for battery rickshaws. About 79% of the battery rickshaws are rented.

If the rent is discounted for, the battery rickshaw drivers earn as much as a pedal rickshaw driver-- about Tk450 per day. However, if the battery rickshaw drivers own the rickshaw, the income per day shoots up to Tk950 a day.

It is therefore not surprising that most pedal rickshaw drivers want to switch to battery rickshaws. But here is an even more interesting finding -- the battery rickshaw drivers too want to move on. 68% of the battery rickshaw drivers want to switch to a car or a CNG.

This means by offering the right type of electronic vehicles or by engaging the battery rickshaw drivers to switch to ride sharing services, we might be able to address the job problem of jobs that has triggered the transformation.

Through this approach of solving the passenger’s problems and the rickshaw pullers aspirations, we might be able to take a phased and laddered approach to transformation and inclusive growth that then trickles down to more sectors and therefore facilitates more jobs.

For example, the lead acid batteries used for battery rickshaws are causing great harm because of the challenge in recycling. They are also taking power out of the grid.

According to experts, the lead has entered the food value chain and has obstructed export of processed food from Bangladesh to the European Union.

Interventions like changing the ownership of the batteries and promoting lithium batteries could provide fruitful alternatives.

The call to ban rickshaws has been there since 1945 -- according to Professor Muslehuddin from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Yet, rickshaws thrived and have become UNESCO heritage.

According to him, battery rickshaws should be called battery-operated three wheelers while the rickshaws should remain as they are.  

It is evident that the rickshaws have been at the crossroads of development, culture, and urban need for mobility. Removal or ban of rickshaws would disturb the informal system that somehow works for the passengers and the rickshaw drivers.

However, they both are in pain. To address these pains -- we need a systematic approach that addresses the passenger’s needs and the rickshaw pullers’ aspirations.

Battery rickshaws should not be seen as a peril. They can be a gateway for youth employment along with safe and sustainable urban transportation.

However, that requires numerous coordinated interventions involving the rickshaw pullers, garage owners, technology companies, ride hailing services, microfinance institutions, and the traffic police 

Md Rubaiyath Sarwar is Managing Director, Innovision Consulting.