Many unauthorised rickshaws, including battery-run auto-rickshaws, are running on Dhaka streets with the backing of a powerful nexus comprising police, politicians, and city corporation officials.

The group is earning a huge sum of money by not only helping these unauthorised vehicles to operate on roads and alleys but also by making new rickshaws, selling spare parts and batteries, and renting garages to recharge batteries, according to rickshaw pullers, garage owners, and workshop owners.

Battery-run auto-rickshaw pullers said that traffic police usually charge them Tk 1,200 as a wrecker bill if caught, but they can escape the penalty with a one-time payment to the group.

‘I have managed to get a card to run my rickshaw in areas like Sadarghat,  Jatrabari, Sutrapur, and Jurain without worrying about traffic police. The card required me to pay Tk 1,000 per month,’ said Md Jahangir, a battery-run-auto rickshaw puller at Jatrabari.

He said that traffic police, local ruling party leaders, and activists shared the money.

‘I was caught by traffic police once in the past seven months and had to pay Tk 1,200 as a wrecker bill. I don’t need to pay a single penny in the areas under the purview of my card,’ he said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional commissioner for traffic, Md Munibur Rahman, said that they take wrecker bills instead of dumping them as they do not have enough space to dump these vehicles.

‘We impose a wrecker charge to discourage them from running illegal auto-rickshaws,’ he said.

Ruling Awami League Dhaka south city unit general secretary Humayun Kabir told New Age on Friday that everyone, including lawmakers, police, and power division officials, was involved in the rickshaw nexus.

‘The government is not getting any revenue from battery-run auto-rickshaws. The entire Dhaka is flooded with those illegal rickshaws, and new auto-rickshaws are made in Dhaka city and elsewhere,’ he said.

In 2020, Dhaka South City Corporation gave licences to 1,91,008 rickshaws, but 51,656 rickshaws did not renew in 2023, meaning there are now 1,39,352 legal rickshaws in its areas.

Dhaka North City Corporation has not issued any licences for rickshaws since beginning its operation in 2011. A total of 26,500 licenced rickshaws were operating in DNCC areas at that time.

Many rickshaws are running in the city without carrying any stickers from either of the two city corporations.

Rickshaw pullers said that they barely face any trouble for not having any stickers, as the city authorities conduct a drive against illegal rickshaws very seldom.

None of the city authorities have ever issued a licence to battery-run auto-rickshaws.

Although the manufacturing of battery-run auto-rickshaws is not allowed, many workshops and rickshaw garages in areas like Jatrabari, Lalbagh, and Kamrangirchar are involved in the illegal manufacturing of these vehicles.

Md Mamun, the proprietor of workshop JN Saha Road in the capital’s Lalbagh area, who makes battery-run auto-rickshaws, said that each requires between Tk 62,000 and Tk 72,000 depending on quality.

‘You will get Tk 400 by renting a new rickshaw, while Tk 150 is the cost of the garage charge, recharging the battery, and the card bill. The investment will return in six to seven months. If you can create a card for the physically challenged people from the city corporations, you will not have to face police harassment and pay the card bill as well,’ he said.

DSCC spokesperson and public relations officer Abu Nasher denied providing any card to any physically disabled person to run battery-powered auto-rickshaws.

Workshop owner Mamun said if anyone supplied all the materials, they could prepare an auto-rickshaw for Tk 15,000.

Mamun said that he manufactures at least five battery-run auto-rickshaws each month.

Some businesses are making money by providing space for recharging the batteries for auto-rickshaws and renting space for parking.

Abdus Sukur, a garage owner at Kamrangirchar, allowed 30 battery-run auto-rickshaws to park in his facilities and charged Tk 50 for parking and Tk 80 for providing recharging per day.

‘I earn about Tk 4,000 per day, but I have to pay at least Tk 2,000 in electricity bills. I have a technician who manufactures auto-rickshaws,’ he added.

DMP’s Munibur denied police involvement in illegal auto-rickshaw trading.

‘We are also looking for people involved in this trade. We do not have the addresses where the auto-rickshaws are being manufactured. If you provide us with information,

we will take legal action,’ he added.

SM Salahuddin, a former executive director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, said that at least 2,000 battery-run auto-rickshaws were running per square kilometre in Dhaka city.

DNCC has 196.2 sq km area, while DSCC has 109 sq km, according to officials.

‘City corporations and police are mainly responsible for controlling battery-run auto-rickshaws and unauthorised rickshaws. If immediate action is not taken, the entire city will be flooded with rickshaws,’ said Salahuddin.

Abdul Ahad, a battery-run auto-rickshaw maker at Nabinagar in the capital’s Kamrangirchar area, was found manufacturing illegal auto-rickshaws in his garage.

‘I charge Tk 7,000 per rickshaw if a customer supplies materials. Otherwise, I take between Tk 62,000 and Tk 75,000 for each one,’ he said.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology mechanical engineering department professor Md Ehsan said that rickshaw pullers were running traditional rickshaws with high speed incorporating a battery only but those rickshaws were designed to run at a speed of 15 kilometres per hour.

‘Many of those rickshaws ply highways at a high speed and causes accidents. The government can change the design and improve structure, including breaking system and body, to allow them on roads and it would reduce accidents. The BRTA can register those rickshaws after such changes in design,’ he added.