The capital city of Dhaka will be divided into eight distinct zones to regulate the movement of battery-powered rickshaws, with each zone assigned a specific color code, according to an official announcement made on Sunday. State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam revealed the comprehensive regulatory framework during a press briefing at the Secretariat at noon, detailing plans to streamline the operation of electric rickshaws across the metropolis. Under the new policy, battery-powered rickshaws registered in one specific zone will be strictly prohibited from operating in other areas, while the total number of vehicles permitted per zone will be finalized following coordinated discussions between city corporations and traffic authorities.
Elaborating on the timeline, the State Minister announced that all 13 city corporations across the country are authorized to commence registration procedures starting Monday. Reassuring existing operators, the Minister urged current drivers not to panic, clarifying that operational rickshaws will not be abruptly confiscated; instead, authorities will systematically register legitimate vehicles while removing unauthorized ones in phases.
To implement this division, the Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations will each be partitioned into four administrative regions, totaling eight zones across the capital. While no immediate ceiling has been imposed on the total number of registrations, applicants must modify their existing vehicles to conform with structural designs approved by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Furthermore, an individual owner will be permitted to register a maximum of five battery-powered rickshaws, either within a single city corporation or distributed across multiple city corporation jurisdictions.
Addressing regulatory requirements for operators, the State Minister stated that driving licenses will not be made mandatory immediately, as local authorities currently lack the logistical capacity to process sudden applications for hundreds of thousands of drivers. Instead, as an interim measure, vehicle owners will issue formal identity cards to their drivers, while the government plans to issue a separate gazette notification to gradually bring all operators under formal licensing requirements as the registration process progresses.
To ensure strict accountability and monitoring, every registered electric rickshaw will be equipped with a unique number plate embedded with a Quick Response code, which must be displayed prominently on the vehicle. Officials confirmed that the Quick Response code will digitally store essential data, including the registration number, ownership and driver details, the issuing city corporation, and the designated operational zone.
