E-rickshaws to be off-limits to main roads

Battery-run e-rickshaws will not be allowed to operate on Dhaka’s main roads, while the vehicles will be permitted to run on internal roads in eight designated zones under a new government policy, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam said on Sunday.

He said the government was finalising a policy to bring e-rickshaws and electric rickshaws under a regulatory framework and determine where they could operate.

“We will not allow e-rickshaws on the main roads. They will be allowed to operate on internal roads divided into eight zones,” the state minister said. Under the proposed policy, Dhaka city authorities will register e-rickshaws designed to carry two or four passengers. Vehicles designed to carry six passengers will not be registered by the city corporations for operation in Dhaka, he said.

Six-passenger vehicles, however, may be registered for operation on rural roads and roads in district-level rural areas, provided they are manufactured according to designs certified by BUET or other engineering universities, Mir Shahe Alam said. Asked when the policy would be implemented, he said it was at the final stage and would soon be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting.

“Once the vetting is completed, we will issue it within a week or the following week, as soon as possible,” he said.

The policy is expected to bring e-rickshaws and electric rickshaws under a regulated system in accordance with the law, he added. The state minister made the remarks while briefing journalists following a meeting between Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moin Khan and Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Mohammad Shuhada bin Othman at the Secretariat on Sunday.