Bengal to streamline e-rickshaw registration, discontinue illegal vehicles

The West Bengal transport department has decided to streamline the registration of e-rickshaws and phase out unregistered and illegally manufactured vehicles.

The decision was taken in view of representations from various bodies about the plying of lakhs of unregistered e-rickshaws built in workshops without following any standard manufacturing procedures or safety guidelines.

A senior transport department official said that district magistrates have been asked to identify battery-operated unregistered e-rickshaws built clandestinely at local garages and phase them out in a time-bound manner.

Transport Secretary Saumitra Mohan, in a notice issued on September 12, said, "Representations have been received from different stakeholders in connection with non-compliance of guidelines for registration of e-rickshaws, duly manufactured by different companies including original equipment manufacturers, after obtaining the approval from the competent authority."

As per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 only authorised agencies can perform the product testing and grant certificate.

"If the new applicants follow all stipulated guidelines, they will be issued trade licenses within a week of receipt of application, while processing the applications for registrations will have to be completed within 48 hours," it said.

Another transport department official claimed that around 200,000 unregistered e-rickshaws were presently plying the state's roads.

He did not specify any time for phasing out all such unregistered e-rickshaws but said that with the issuance of the notification on September 12, the process has started already.

Several bus operator bodies, including the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, have given representations to the state transport department, noting that the mushrooming of the e-rickshaws has resulted in closure of many bus routes or the dwindling of bus services in many routes.

Tapan Banerjee, secretary of the Syndicate, said, "We have repeatedly asked the state government to look into the situation. Popular routes have closed down due to the proliferation of e-rickshaws. Outside Kolkata, plying of such illegal e-rickshaws has triggered a crisis in the stage carriage sector (buses/mini buses) which are regular tax-payers and bring out their vehicles by complying with all specified norms.