Bike rickshaws get reprieve

Caretaker cabinet allows temporary registration for redesign

LAHORE:

After a protracted delay of nearly two decades, the Punjab government has decided to recognise motorcycle rickshaws under the official classification of three-wheelers.

In its 34th session held on Monday, the Caretaker Punjab Cabinet endorsed the revision of the Punjab Motor Vehicles Rules of 1969, thereby extending formal acknowledgment to motorcycle rickshaws, predominantly employed for passenger transport within both urban and rural areas of the province.

Presiding over the provincial cabinet meeting, the caretaker Punjab chief minister sanctioned the regional transport authority as a specialised registration entity, empowering it to issue temporary registrations to existing motorcycle rickshaws. Subsequent to the provisional registration, a four-month timeframe will be allocated for specified dimensional modifications and redesigning of the vehicles. Post this period, motorcycle rickshaws can secure a registration number from the excise department upon the provision of a fitness certificate.

Addressing the meeting participants, the caretaker chief minister underscored the imperative to streamline the registration process and facilitate applicants by formulating registration documents in the Urdu language.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the managing director of a leading motorcycle rickshaw manufacturing entity emphasised a historical discord between transport authorities and the manufacturers, particularly regarding the design and safety facets of the three-wheeled vehicles. Initiated as a replacement for horse-drawn carts (tonga) two decades ago, only a select few engineering firms initially ventured into local manufacturing. As demand surged, individuals across the province began fabricating motorcycle rickshaw bodies, inadvertently compromising safety and established design standards. Operating predominantly in an unregulated environment, both the government and manufacturers overlooked safety standards. Presently, countless motorcycle rickshaws traverse almost all rural and urban areas of the province, either with or without formal registration.

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Responding to queries, the MD remarked that while the government had addressed issues concerning motorcycle rickshaws, three-wheel loader rickshaws still lack inclusion in the legal framework. Hundreds of thousands of loader rickshaws, primarily produced by organised sectors, grapple with registration challenges as a legal dispute involving a Japanese car manufacturer remains pending in court.

Meanwhile, the loader rickshaws continue to ply the roads across Pakistan without adhering to registration and tax obligations to the government exchequer.

In a preceding development earlier this month, the interim Punjab government had opted to proscribe motorcycle rickshaws throughout the province, including Lahore, in a concerted effort to bolster road safety. The Caretaker Transport Minister, Ibrahim Hassan Murad, had declared an impending crackdown against unauthorised motorcycle rickshaw manufacturing. A 30-day ultimatum was issued to motorcycle rickshaw owners to obtain fitness certificates, failing which stringent actions would be taken against them.

Murad had underscored that the initial phase of the crackdown would entail a ban on rickshaws lacking approval from the transport department in major cities. This strategic approach is integral to the government's broader initiative to enhance road safety. Subsequently, a comprehensive operation would unfold in smaller cities and rural areas during the second phase.

Moreover, the caretaker minister emphasised that future local manufacturing of motorcycle rickshaws would be proscribed, accompanied by plans to regulate rickshaw manufacturing companies and implement mandatory registration procedures for all such vehicles.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2023.