DSCC Launches E-Rickshaw Registration: An Application Alone Will Not Do, BUET Clearance Is a Must

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has formally launched a registration process to restore order to battery-run e-rickshaw movement in its area. But the authorities have made it clear that merely submitting an application will not secure a registration.

To be registered, an e-rickshaw must be prepared in line with the prescribed guidelines and obtain approval or clearance from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Only after the conditions are met can an application be submitted to the city corporation to begin the registration process.

DSCC Administrator Md Abdus Salam outlined the plans on Tuesday (3 November) in a statement on e-rickshaw registration, movement control and management.

The administrator said distribution of e-rickshaw registration forms began today. But the form is not a permit to operate; it is only an application for registration. Applicants must meet the prescribed conditions and obtain BUET clearance before submitting their applications.

He said registrations would be issued in phases once the necessary scrutiny is complete.

The administrator also mentioned several other initiatives to bring e-rickshaw management within a defined framework. Designated workshops will be assigned for manufacturing and repairing e-rickshaws of the specified model.

Charging stations are also planned at ward or police-station level to stop the use of illegal electricity connections, he said.

The Dhaka South City area is to be divided into four zones to control the number and movement of e-rickshaws. A joint meeting of the city corporation and Bangladesh Police on 5 November will finalise the zones in detail and the possible number of e-rickshaws for each area.

Noting that all auto-rickshaws cannot be shut down at once, the administrator said they would be brought under rules and registration step by step rather than suddenly. In the first phase, 500, 1,000 or 2,000 — however many e-rickshaws meet the conditions — will be approved for registration in phases.

Distribution of the registration application forms, priced at Tk 100 each, began on Tuesday. The forms can be collected every day except government holidays, from 10 am to 3 pm, from Nagar Bhaban and all DSCC regional offices. One person may collect a maximum of five application forms.

Describing the auto-rickshaw as one of the capital city’s main problems, the administrator sought the cooperation of citizens, rickshaw owners, drivers and all other parties to solve it.