WB transport dept to frame guidelines for 2Ws use for commercial purposes

The West Bengal transport department will soon come out with detailed guidelines for better regulation and safe operation of non-transport two-wheelers for commercial purposes in the state, an official said on Tuesday.

He said a meeting chaired by West Bengal Transport Secretary Saumitra Mohan with different aggregators such as Ola, Uber, Rapido, InDrive and online delivery agencies such as Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Zomato and Swiggy discussed the unregulated operation of non-transport two-wheelers for commercial purposes.

In the meeting held recently, it was decided that all stakeholder aggregators, corporate houses, and agencies using non-transport two-wheelers unauthorisedly for commercial purposes must be brought under an oversight mechanism in accordance with relevant Motor Vehicle Acts and rules.

The operators requested the transport department's intervention in obtaining NOCs from financial institutions financing a number of these two-wheelers to ease the process of conversion of these vehicles to the transport category.

They also requested the department to expedite such conversion by facilitating the same through specially organised and pro-notified camps apart from the regular process.

The transport department will keep in mind the interests of young unemployed youths from weaker economic backgrounds while framing the guidelines.

The aggregators and online delivery agencies were told that the unauthorised and illegal use of non-transport two-wheelers as transport vehicles for using them for commercial purposes can't be allowed any longer, the official said.

The transport secretary requested the participants to share their views in writing including any suggestion for factoring the same in framing the proposed guidelines.