Bengaluru: While the government in July 2021 launched a policy to allow electric bicycle taxis, only one company – bounce – applied to permissions so far.
The transportation department official said Rapido, who operates a gasoline running bike taxi, has not yet applicable for permission.
L Hemanth Kumar, additional commissioners for transportation and secretaries, state transportation authorities, confirm this.
“Only bounces that apply for permits.
We need to inspect their vehicles.
We will issue permission to bounce after completion.
Allows only two-wheeled electric wheels for bicycle taxis is a policy decision by the state government,” Kumar said.
Pavan Guntupalli, Co-Founder Rapido, said: “We have explored EVS ideas as the next natural development step …” Source said many companies were not interested in having a vehicle, those who wanted to run bicycle taxis through these platforms were not in position for Buy electric two-wheeled vehicles because of the initial high cost (more than 1 lakh).
Another reason is the lack of charging points in the city which is a long distance trip.
In addition, two-wheeled gasoline vehicles are faster so that drivers can complete more trips to get incentives from the aggregator.
A transportation department official said they only chose electric scooters for this scheme for several reasons.
“One, it’s environmentally friendly.
Two, this will only run a short distance, especially the last miles connectivity of the metro station because of the problem of battery coverage.
If they run long distances, it will also affect BMTC and automatic drivers in the long term.
Three, the driver doesn’t Will enjoy the rash rash because the electric two-wheel speed is low compared to the gasoline.
“He said there were only a few models and two electric wheel companies.
“But it will change in the coming days because the battery costs are expected to decrease.
Most of the bicycle taxi companies are not ready to invest in expensive two-wheeled electricity and they want us to let them run the gasoline,” he said.
Pawan Mulukutla, an urban mobility expert, said: “Globally, bicycle taxi companies like Grabbike shifted to electronic vehicles, so companies like Rapido also could not hold back for a long time.
The transportation department can provide transition time for companies like Rapido to be converted to be Electricity.
“Individuals, companies can register according to the electric bicycle taxi scheme of Karnataka-2021, permission will be given to agents / canvassers and also for individuals.
“Individuals, companies and those who are interested in running a bicycle taxi can apply for a license under the scheme that will apply for five years.
The license receiver must deposit cash security RS 5,000 and individual bicycle cases must be released from the deposit,” read.
The distance between the origin and the purpose of the trip should not be more than 10 km.
The license receiver will charge a flat rate in two slabs: up to 5 km and 5-10km.