A legal notice has been issued requesting the authorities to take immediate action to ban the operation of battery-powered autorickshaws and easy bikes on highways and flyovers across the country.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Bahauddin Al Imran sent the notice on Thursday in the public interest.
The notice was addressed to the secretaries of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, and Ministry of Home Affairs, as well as the Inspector General of Police and the chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
Highlighting concerns raised in media reports, the notice stated: "The unchecked movement of battery-powered autorickshaws and easy bikes is creating chaos on highways and flyovers. Previously restricted to alleys, these vehicles are now disrupting traffic on major roads. The drivers, often untrained and lacking proper licenses or documents, violate traffic rules, endangering public safety. Traffic police struggle to manage these vehicles effectively."
Citing a report by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) on road accidents in October 2023, the notice emphasized 377 deaths and 415 injuries occurred nationwide in road accidents during October.
Among these, 66 fatalities were linked to accidents involving easy bikes, battery-powered rickshaws, and auto-rickshaws.
The notice also addressed the strain on electricity caused by these vehicles, noting: "Batteries in these vehicles require frequent charging, leading to the proliferation of illegal garages that consume significant amounts of electricity. This exacerbates the government's struggle to maintain an uninterrupted power supply."
The authorities were given three days to respond and take necessary measures to stop the operation of these vehicles on major roads and flyovers.
The notice warned that failure to act would result in the filing of a writ petition in the High Court.
