Bangladesh bans battery powered rickshaws from highways and expressways

The Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives issued new rules to regulate battery powered three wheeled e-rickshaws in city corporation areas across Bangladesh.

These rules, published in the Bangladesh Gazette, take effect immediately to manage passenger transport and restore order to the roads. The regulations prohibit e-rickshaws from operating on national highways, expressways, elevated expressways, and major bus routes, including Bus Rapid Transit routes.

Drivers must stay in the left hand lane and are forbidden from using mobile phones or changing lanes improperly. The rules set a maximum speed of 25 kilometres per hour, which drops to 15 kilometres per hour near schools, hospitals, and crowded areas. Vehicles can carry a maximum of two or four passengers depending on their approved seating capacity.

Drivers must be Bangladeshi citizens aged at least 18 and must register their vehicles to receive a unique number plate with a QR code. Each e-rickshaw has an economic service life of 12 years, after which the registration must be cancelled. The rules also require manufacturers to obtain a licence by meeting technical standards set by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

For environmental protection, the rules mandate that sellers collect old batteries for recycling and forbid the disposal of batteries in open spaces or water bodies. City corporations and traffic departments will jointly determine specific zones, routes, and the number of allowed vehicles in each area. While the government provides these guidelines, urban planner Adil Muhammad Khan noted that the rules lack a clear timeline for bringing existing unregulated vehicles into the new framework.

He also pointed out that allowing one person to register up to five e-rickshaws might allow commercial investors to dominate the sector over individual drivers.