Battery-run rickshaws ordered to register

The government on Thursday ordered the battery-run auto rickshaw operators to register their vehicles from the next day, and comply with a set of regulations.

The freshly announced “Three-Wheeled Low-Speed Battery-Operated Rickshaw (E-Rickshaw) Movement Rules, 2026,” would be the first of its kind, aiming to reduce the number of road crashes, and bring the e-rickshaws under a comprehensive legal framework.

The Local Government Division, under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, issued a notification in this regard on Thursday night, saying the new regulations would be effective immediately.

The regulations fix the maximum speed limits for the vehicles which are prone to road crashes, their operating areas, fitness requirements, registration procedures, and legal action in case of violations.

As per the rules, the three-wheeled battery-run rickshaws cannot exceed speed of 25-kilometre per hour, and must reduce the maximum speed further to 15-km per hour in specific crowded and pedestrian-intensive areas like schools, hospitals and religious sites.

They must only operate in city corporation areas and must avoid highways, expressways, elevated expressways, bus-routes and bus corridors, footpaths and any other routes restricted by the concerned city corporation and other authorities.

They also must operate only on the left lane of authorised routes.

The concerned city corporation authority will designate the operating routes and colours, and no e-rickshaw can change the designated operating zone within the same city.

Similarly, a three-wheeled e-rickshaw registered in one city corporation area cannot be used commercially in another city corporation area.

Following the registration, each e-rickshaw will get a QR code, which the drivers and owners will have to put on display on a visible area of the vehicle to allow for verification by the traffic police.

E-rickshaws can be of two types: one capable of carrying maximum two passengers alongside the drive, and the other capable of carrying maximum four passengers apart from the driver.

An e-rickshaw driver can allow the passengers to transport only those goods that they can carry with their hands, and nothing more.

Each rickshaw must also be changed to meet the technological and safety criteria outlined by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Documents on fitness test, and compliance with the BUET standards must be included with the application for registration.

The application must also mention the type of the vehicle, the maximum passengers it can carry in line with the regulations, name of production company, chassis number and motor number.

An applicant must be at least 18 years old, and have a valid national identification card. An applicant can get maximum five vehicles registered under his name, and use them in different city corporation areas. However, the same vehicle cannot be used beyond the approved city area.

Each vehicle must be registered for five years, and the vehicle must be retired 12 years after the registration.

An applicant has to submit Tk8,000 for a vehicle with two-passenger capacity in one-time upfront payment, and pay Tk4,000 for annual renewal. For an e-rickshaw with four-passenger capacity, Tk10,000 must be submitted for the first-time registration, and Tk5,000 every year for the next four years.

For fitness test, additional Tk1,000 must be paid for each vehicle.

Following the submission of all the required data and documents, the application would be granted or denied within the next 30 working days. In case of denial, the authorities must notify the applicant within seven working days. Afterwards, the applicant can appeal the decision within the next ten days, following which the final verdict rests solely with the authorities, as per the rules.

The rules have also specified legal actions in case the driver avoids registration, overspeeds, transports more passengers than allowed, uses unauthorised batteries, drives on unauthorised routes, and changes the make or type of the chassis or the motor from the one approved during the registration process.

The driver must also avoid arbitrary or dangerous driving, and remain on the spot in the event of an accident or crash.