AGARTALA, March 25 (TIWN): The owners of all the 'Tripura Battery Operated Rickshaws on Friday hold protest rally across the city against the new rules for regulating license for their rickshaw or they have to ride rickshaw without batteries in the city.

Raising voice against the new rule the rickshaw drivers hold rally from in front of RS Bhawan and assembled at Nagerjala for meeting on the issue.

The drivers stated the sudden imposed rules will hamper their income and they have fixed batteries into the rickshaws by spending huge amount of money.  Many have even taken loan for buying the rickshaws.  However, they further stated that riding rickshaw is the only source of income to feed their family.

A section of drivers furthers stated that why suddenly the association is asking for license when there are huge numbers of battery operated rickshaw in the city, why was not  this raised in the beginning? Question remains.

It is to be mentioned here that replicating the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the state framed the 'Tripura Battery Operated Rickshaws Rules 2014' to regulate the movement of battery-operated rickshaws in urban areas of the state.

The rules, notified in January, state that a driving licence is mandatory for e-rickshaw drivers, who must not be less than 20 years of age. It will be valid for three years, unless cancelled or suspended if the driver flouts rules.

The licence fee of the battery-operated rickshaws is Rs 300, renewal fee Rs 100, registration fee Rs 1,000 and trade certificate fee Rs 1,000. The operator has to pay Rs 100 as annual road tax.

The rules say engineers of urban local bodies of the rank of executive engineers must issue fitness certificates for the vehicles after a technical assessment.

Each battery-operated rickshaw will have to provide insurance cover to protect the riders. 
For years, these rickshaws had operated in Tripura cities without any registration and licence.