Delaying comeback: Qingqi owners decry new conditions

Bus operators don’t want three-wheelers to ply on main roads

KARACHI: Following the Supreme Court's January 6 order allowing Qingqis to ply with certain conditions, the three-wheelers' owners are itching to be back on the road after spending over half a year in the wilderness.

Qingqis were banned following a court ruling citing safety concerns. The apex court has directed that the seating capacity of the three-wheeler should be limited to four people with a safety guard installed at the front and back, the engine must not be below 100cc, the motorcycle-rickshaws should be factory assembled with hydraulic brakes, and the size of the front and rear wheels be 22 and 16 inch in diameter. The apex court also asked the provincial transport authority to ensure compliance of the order by submitting a report after 90 days.

However, Qingi owners want permission to ply their vehicles in their present state, and modify them simultaneously. All Karachi Qingqi Rickshaw Welfare Association president, Safdar Shah Qadri, said "We have been out of business for several months now, how can we be expected to foot the bill for the modifications all of a sudden?"





Sindh transport secretary Tauha Ahmed Farooqui says Qingqi owners have been given enough time to make the changes, and there is no way they can be allowed to return without these modifications.

Sindh transport department's focal person, Yar Muhammad Mirjat, advised that there were five registered companies in Karachi that Qingqi owners could go to in order to alter their vehicle's body according to the new standards.

However, Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers chairman, Sabir Shaikh, claimed no company exists in the city that could alter the Qingqi's body.

Registration and route permit

Once these Qingis are altered by the 'approved' company, Mirjat explained that they would be given a fitness certificate by the transport department's motor vehicle inspectors. He said there are three motor vehicle inspection centres in Karachi from where Qingqis could be inspected. He further said that they would also arrange a mobile team to facilitate Qingqi owners.



Finally, the Excise and Taxation Department (E&TD) would register the Qingqi. E&TD secretary Shahabuddin Khatri said once the Qingqi owners produce a no-objection certificate from the Regional Transport Authority along with the fitness certificate, they would be registered with the E&TD as a commercial vehicle.



On a question regarding route permits, Mirjat responded that only transport department could issue the permit. He however explained that Qingqis would only be allowed to ply on internal roads not the main roads of the city.

Effect on buses

Karachi Transport Ittehad's general secretary, Mehmood Afridi, said after the ban on Qingqi, their buses are carrying all of the city's passengers. Bus owners who had sold off their buses after the emergence of the Qingqis have bought back their vehicles and are plying them.

Regarding the Qingi's comeback, he said the three-wheelers should only be allowed to operate on internal roads, or else there business would collapse again.

'Mini-cabs'

Regarding the mode of transport which Qingqis need to be defined under law, Mirjat thought legislation was not required for the purpose. "In suburban areas, these vehicles are already registered as mini-cabs," he claimed.

Once the Qingqis adhere to all the conditions, a notification would be issued declaring them mini-cabs, he said.

To this, E&TD's Khatri said according to law, Qingqis could be registered as a three-wheeler since they are a type of a rickshaw. "However, it depends on what word the transport department uses for it in their notification," he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th,  2016.