Motorised rickshaws and battery-powered human haulers have become a vital part of Bangladesh's transport system, providing mobility and livelihoods for millions. Yet their rapid and largely unregulated growth is raising concerns about road safety, urban planning, energy use and workforce productivity. The challenge is no longer just transport-it is about managing an emerging urban reality before it becomes difficult to control.
A Growing Urban Challenge
Over the years, I have travelled extensively across Bangladesh in different professional capacities. Few changes have been as rapid and visible as the rise of motorised rickshaws and battery-powered human haulers. Once confined mainly to rural roads and small towns, they are now ubiquitous across the country. Their appeal is obvious: affordable transport for passengers and a quick source of income for drivers. An estimated four million electric three-wheelers carry more than 100 million passenger trips daily. For many low-income families, they provide a vital livelihood. Yet what appears to be a transport success story also raises broader questions about urban planning, infrastructure and workforce development.
Safety, Energy and Productivity Concerns
Road safety is the most immediate concern. Motorised rickshaws increasingly share roads and highways with faster vehicles, creating dangerous speed mismatches. Electric three-wheelers accounted for an estimated 16.5 percent of road accidents and more than one-fifth of accident deaths in 2024, while many operate without standard safety features or adequately trained drivers. Energy consumption is another challenge. Battery-powered three-wheelers use an estimated 750 megawatts of electricity daily, about five percent of national generation. Much of the charging occurs through informal connections, raising concerns about oversight and efficiency. Productivity is a longer-term issue. While the sector provides livelihoods, its low entry barriers draw workers into informal employment when Bangladesh needs more skilled labour in manufacturing, technology, logistics and modern services. The question is whether growing dependence on such employment supports the country's long-term development ambitions.
Why Delay Could Make the Problem Harder to Solve
The real challenge may not be transport at all. It may be governance. As more people invest in motorised rickshaws, a growing ecosystem of drivers, owners, battery suppliers, charging operators, financiers and repair workshops become economically dependent on the sector. The larger this ecosystem becomes, the more difficult regulation becomes. Experience shows that once livelihoods and investments become deeply embedded in an informal system, corrective measures become politically and socially challenging. What may appear manageable today could become far more difficult tomorrow. The issue, therefore, is not whether motorised rickshaws should exist. It is whether Bangladesh can establish an effective regulatory framework before the sector becomes too deeply rooted to reform.
The Regulatory Gap
Bangladesh does not lack laws; it lacks effective enforcement. The Road Transport Act 2018 requires vehicle registration, fitness certification and driver licensing, while proposed regulations seek to govern battery-powered three-wheelers through approved designs, designated routes and highway restrictions. Yet reality is different. Many battery-powered vehicles operate without registration, standardised designs or trained drivers, and remain common on highways despite restrictions. With estimates suggesting more than six million such vehicles nationwide, enforcement alone is unlikely to succeed. The lesson is clear: the longer the rapidly expanding informal sector remains outside effective oversight, the harder and more costly it becomes to regulate.
Lessons from Asia
Bangladesh is not alone in facing this challenge. India responded to the rapid growth of electric rickshaws through registration, licensing, insurance and designated operating zones, focusing on formalisation rather than prohibition. The Philippines integrated three-wheelers into local transport systems through route management, driver training and safety standards, while Nepal combined regulatory reforms with route planning to better manage urban mobility. The lesson is clear: once informal transport becomes embedded in local economies, gradual regulation and integration work far better than outright bans.
A Way Forward for Bangladesh
Bangladesh still has time to act. Priorities include nationwide registration, strict highway restrictions, standardised vehicle designs, driver training, licensed charging stations and designated operating zones. These measures should be integrated into urban transport planning rather than relying on sporadic enforcement. Policymakers must also address the forces driving the sector's growth. Greater investment in secondary cities and regional growth centres can ease migration pressures and reduce dependence on informal transport for employment.
Looking Beyond Traffic
Motorised rickshaws emerged not from government planning but from real needs. They provide mobility where formal transport is inadequate and livelihoods where jobs are scarce. That is why the issue deserves careful attention. Looking beyond traffic, these vehicles reflect deeper realities of Bangladesh's urban future-rapid migration, informal employment, rising energy demand and the challenge of keeping regulation aligned with economic change. Experience suggests that once livelihoods and investments become deeply attached to a system, reform becomes far more difficult. Bangladesh's challenge is no longer the absence of rules but the gap between regulation and reality. The question is not whether action is needed, but whether it will come before today's practical solution becomes tomorrow's urban dilemma.
Major General (Retd) Md Nazrul Islam is a former executive chairman of BEPZA, a retired Major General of the Bangladesh Army, and a PhD researcher on technology, workforce transformation, and industrial competitiveness.
