United News of Bangladesh

Battery-powered e-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws will have to be charged using solar power to qualify for registration, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam said on Monday. He said fines would be imposed on owners who charge the vehicles using electricity from sources other than solar power. “If they recharge with electricity other than solar power, they will face fines under the new rules,” the state minister told reporters after a review meeting of departments and agencies under his ministry. He said the government is bringing battery-powered e-rickshaws under a new registration system through city corporations and municipalities. “From now on, BRTA will not register these e-rickshaws. City corporations and municipalities will do so,” he said. The state minister said registration would be subject to several conditions including mandatory solar-powered charging. Vehicles charged from non-solar sources would neither be registered nor renewed. He said a law has already been passed in Parliament and rules are now being prepared accordingly. The rules will set registration and renewal fees and other requirements. To obtain registration, an e-rickshaw will also need a fitness certificate from the automobile branch of BUET or a government polytechnic institute at district level. The fitness certificate will have to be submitted to the concerned city corporation or municipality with a countersignature from the traffic police, he added.