Under the Transport department’s pilot project of enabling bike-taxi riders to obtain commercial registration, 129 riders received commercial registrations on Friday at the Public Vehicles Department (PVD) in Salt Lake. Encouraging businesses to crop up under the transport sector, state Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said that soon they will put a system in place wherein people will be able to give their bikes for rent to tourists.
In an elaborate programme organised by the department, these commercial registrations were distributed among the applicants. According to the Kolkata Suburban Bike Taxi Operators Union secretary Debu Shaw, about 15,000 to 20,000 bike taxis are operating cumulatively in Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24-Parganas. Out of the massive number of riders, 300 applications were made in the camps held by the department since September 2023. When asked about the small pool of applicants compared to the actual strength, Shaw informed that 72 to 75 per cent of riders are paying EMIs on their bikes. Since, only people who have cleared their loans or brought the bike with cash were able to apply for this particular drive, the numbers are less. “We have given a deputation to the minister on this technical difficulty. He has spoken with a few financial companies as well to see if there is any alternative but there seems to be some technical problem. However, if we can surpass this difficulty, the number of riders applying for the commercial registration will increase magnificently,” Shaw told Millennium Post. According to a bike-taxi rider, he used to have a job before 2019-20, but when faced with sudden job loss, he started using his bike for commercial purposes to earn a livelihood. But faced problems due to constant crackdown by traffic police as under Motor Vehicles rule, operating a vehicle with private registration for commercial use is not allowed. It was in 2019-20, the union leaders approached the minister and sought for a way to obtain commercial registration.
In February last year, Chakraborty announced that camps will be held for bike taxis in Regional Transport Offices (RTO) to give the bike owners an opportunity for commercial registration. This, according to Shaw, was a huge relief.
While speaking at the bike-taxi commercial permit distribution, Chakraborty said that they have received a proposal from North Bengal that people want to use their bikes to rent it to tourists. “We will put in place a system for it,” the minister said.