In a direct move to protect the country’s overstretched national power grid, the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Ministry is drafting rules to make solar power strictly mandatory for charging e-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws.
Under the proposed regulations, vehicles charged using grid electricity or any source other than solar power will be denied registration and renewal, and violators will face fines.
The initiative aims to curb the heavy additional electricity demand placed on the national grid by battery-run vehicles, State Minister Mir Shahe Alam announced on Monday.
He made the disclosure after a review meeting on solar power use across offices, agencies, and institutions under Local Government Division and Rural Development and Co-operatives Division.
The state minister explained that battery-operated vehicles are being integrated into a formal registration system managed by city corporations and municipalities.
To secure a licence, these vehicles must meet several requirements, with the primary condition being that their batteries are charged solely using solar energy.
A law has already been enacted by Parliament, and the detailed regulations are currently being drafted to outline fees, mandatory guidelines, and penalties for violations.
Fitness certificate mandatory
Under the draft rules, e-rickshaw registration will strictly require a fitness certificate. Vehicle owners must obtain this certificate from the automobile department of either Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) or district-level government polytechnic institutes.
The certificate must then be countersigned by the traffic police before it can be submitted to the local city corporation or municipality to complete the registration.
The state minister also highlighted plans to assign unique QR codes to each registered e-rickshaw to streamline vehicle identification and monitoring.
A preliminary meeting to formulate these regulations has already taken place, involving BUET experts, Dhaka traffic police officers, and representatives from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
Eight zones in capital
To bring discipline to e-rickshaw traffic in the capital, the government plans to divide Dhaka into eight separate operational zones, with four under DNCC and four under DSCC.
Each zone will feature a dedicated colour code for its rickshaws, and geo-fencing technology will be used to keep vehicles from crossing from one zone to another. The final regulations will also clearly specify which roads e-rickshaws can ply and which ones are restricted.
The traffic police will be tasked with running the geo-fencing system, monitoring vehicle movement, and enforcing fines for violations.
The entire system is being developed in partnership with the police, who are represented on the relevant drafting committee.
The new regulations will not be limited to the capital but will roll out simultaneously across the country. According to the state minister, the rules will apply to e-rickshaws operating within 13 city corporations, 330 municipalities, and all upazilas nationwide.
Addressing the timeline for implementation, Shahe Alam noted that the rules will be finalised once vetting from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Ministry of Law is complete, after which the implementation phase will begin.
