Unregistered Qingqi rickshaws banned

SC orders authorities to allow only approved, specially made Qingqi rickshaws

ISLAMABAD: The top court has put a ban on use of unregistered Qingqi rickshaws across the country.

The Supreme Court’s two-judge bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmad, on Wednesday made it clear that apart from the approved, specially manufactured Qingqi rickshaws, no other rickshaw shall be allowed to operate.

Justice Ahmad noted that buses manufactured in the 1950s were still operational in Karachi while noisy Qingqi rickshaws were being plied all over the country. “These rickshaws are dangerous and often flip over on sharp turns," he noted.



The judge observed that the government had developed the Metro Bus, Green Bus, and Orange Line Bus services across the country, but there was no one to regulate the Qingqi rickshaw system.

He noted that the Sindh High Court (SHC) took legal action against the Qingqi rickshaws in the province as their description did not match description of vehicles prescribed in terms of Rule 2(e), (f) and (ff) of the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1969.

Earlier, Punjab Additional Advocate General Razaq A Mirza submitted a report, which claimed that the provincial government had taken initiative to solve the environmental pollution and noise.

“The Punjab’s Transport Department imposed a ban on the induction and use of new two-stroke engine motorcycle rickshaws in Punjab,” he said, adding that the rickshaw was banned in five cities – Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala, Rawlapindi and Faisalabad – on August 28, 2005.



He said since 2001 motorcycle rickshaws were being registered in the Punjab and approval had been granted to different companies that are manufacturing these rickshaws.

“So far five products of M/s Plum Qingqi Motors Limited have been approved as public service vehicles in the province and four-stroke rickshaws have been allowed to be plied,” he said.

The report said the department has issued fitness certificates and route permits to 8,211 motorcycle rickshaws. The department has also taken action against illegal plying of 9,897 motorcycle rickshaws.