THE Local Government Division and the Road Transport Authority appear to be at loggerheads over the licensing of battery-run rickshaws, which are rickshaws that are not pedalled but are powered by electric motors. The Local Government Division has already drafted a guideline to bring the battery-powered rickshaws, also known as e-rickshaws or easy bikes, under the purview of registration in metropolitan areas. Unregistered and unauthorised battery-powered rickshaws continue to menace roads not only in cities, especially Dhaka, but also in outlying areas in the absence of any noticeable oversight. The electric rickshaws choke roads because of their presence in increasing numbers, frequently cause accidents because of their flawed structures that cannot sustain the moderately high speed at which they usually run and cause environmental pollution by way of the rechargeable low-cost lead-acid batteries. The draft guideline is reportedly lying with the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry for an official notification. But the Road Transport Authority is opposed to the move because, as road transport officials say, motorised vehicles of any kind should be under the purview of the registration authority that the Road Transport Authority holds. The Local Government Division, however, seeks to hold the licensing authority for electric rickshaws as it licenses pedal rickshaws.
The argument that the Local Government Division gives for its licensing of the electric rickshaws is untenable. Rickshaws that are powered by electric motors no longer remain pedalled rickshaws and they should fall within the regime of motor or motorised vehicles. As the Road Transport Authority has the expertise, however superficially executed, it is the transport authorities that should govern the regime of electric rickshaws. The city or municipal authorities have for long neglected their mandate of licensing pedalled rickshaws. The Dhaka City Corporation, for an example, stopped issuing licences to pedal rickshaws in the mid-1980s. The Chattogram City Corporation stopped issuing rickshaw licences in the mid-1990s. There were, meanwhile, many unlawful efforts and initiatives for rickshaw licensing, mostly controlled by owners’ or pullers’ associations. The Dhaka City Corporation, before its split into south and north authorities, used to report having licensed 80,000–90,000 rickshaws although private estimates put the figure between half a million and a million. A recent estimate says that the number of electric rickshaws in operation in Dhaka and adjacent areas hovers around 1.5 million. With the figures covering the country, the registration of the electric rickshaws could be a source of the inflow of a huge amount of money for the government.
It is important to license rickshaws, pedalled or motorised, by relevant authorities. But what is most important is to ensure that the model developed by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology runs on the road. Quick-fix, converted and unscientifically modified rickshaws would entail the same danger even with licensing.
