Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
A humble man’s ride, rickshaws are extraordinarily versatile. A convenient option for women to visit bazaars or for men to bring the goat home at Eidul Azha, they can carry an astonishing amount over three wheels.
With a lack of a good safe public transport system, rickshaws were a handy alternative. And then came ride-hailing services. Why travel at 30km per hour in an open rickety rickshaw when one can call a car at a lower rate? At least, that was the case during the heyday of ride-hailing apps.
Rising petrol prices and companies struggling to survive in an increasingly harsh economic environment have to jack up rates, making rickshaws relatively cheaper than ride-hailing apps again.
Not that rickshaws are immune to higher costs. Keeping the rising fuel rates aside, rickshaws, though largely localised in terms of manufacturing, rely on several imported parts, making their manufacturing expensive as the rupee depreciates.
Rickshaws are driven by the lower-income groups who rely on daily earnings to support their families. Affordability is a concern as the price of a rickshaw increases — a single three-seater rickshaw costs around Rs215,000-375,000, depending on brand and specifications.
Therefore, a lot of rickshaw drivers rent out their vehicles from thaikaydars because they cannot afford the upfront cost. Though it varies based on locality, a conversation with a rickshaw-wala indicated that he earns roughly Rs30,000-35,000 a month.
But the rickshaw economy is being modernised in different ways. Some rickshaws are covered with panaflex to advertise little-heard-of businesses. Others are looking towards sustainability and focusing on e-rickshaws.
Electric rickshaws are about two to three times more expensive than their conventional counterparts, begging the question of who can afford to buy them and who can afford to ride in them. The elderly woman with grocery bags in her hands that haggles for Rs50 will not be concerned about the environment if the rickshaw is twice as expensive as the rate she is used to.