2 out of 12 companies certified so far
Although 12 ridesharing service providing companies got approval of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) till yesterday, only two received enlistment certificate.
The rest, including some top companies, are yet to submit necessary documents of at least 100 vehicles -- a mandatory clause to get certificate -- although registration process started a month ago, said BRTA officials.
As per information shared by companies, all but one have over 100 listed vehicles while several of them have more than 20,000 listed vehicles.
A BRTA official said companies are taking time to provide documents of at least 100 vehicles as many of them are facing problems to collect updated documents of vehicles and riders.
As per rules, a company must submit updated documents including fitness clearance, licence and tax token to BRTA.
However, service providers said they are taking time as they have to collect money from drivers for their enlistment certificates, 500 for motorbikers and 1,000 other vehicles -- and submit those to BRTA.
BRTA started registering ridesharing service providers on July 1, around 18 months after formulation of guidelines to regulate the growing sector.
However, the mandatory provision for getting the licence -- the ability to dial 999, the national emergency helpline, using the ride-sharing apps -- was made optional, as police were not ready to deliver the service.
Till yesterday, Pickme Limited and Computer Network System Limited received enlistment certificates.
Ten other companies are: Obhai Solution Ltd, Chaldal Ltd, Pathao Ltd, Ezzyr Technologies Ltd, Akash Technology Ltd, Segesta Ltd, Shohoz Ltd, Uber Bangladesh Ltd, Badi Limited and Akij Online Ltd.
According to latest documents shared by companies with BRTA, 22,000 vehicles are running under Pathao, 32,475 under Shohoz, 20,637 under Uber and 27,271 under Obhai.
Sayeda Nabila Mahbub, senior manager (marketing) of Pathao, said they have already sent documents of 100 vehicles and riders to BRTA. “As BRTA has added some new conditions, no member of Bangladesh Ride Sharing Association got enlistment certificate.”
“We are working towards complying with the requirements of the Ridesharing Service Policy and expect to fulfil this specific requirement soon,” an Uber spokesperson said last night.
Maliha M Quadir, founder and managing director of Shohoz, said their company has submitted documents of minimum 100 vehicles and drivers. “It’s taking time as we have to collect money from drivers. There’s no other problem now,” said Maliha, also spokesperson of Bangladesh Ride Sharing Association, a platform of 16 service providing companies.
Lokman Hossain Mollah, director (engineering) of BRTA, said they did not add any new conditions. “We’ve given them approval but they could not print the certificate as they could not fulfill the condition of 100 vehicles.”
Lokman said they will give some more time to the companies to submit documents. “After that, we will go for action if any vehicle does not have enlistment certificate,” he added.
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