Yellow number plates to be assigned for rental two-wheelers

Transport Dept. to streamline regularisation for outlets, will issue 5-year permits

Tourists’ favourite: Most rental outlets are located in and around the Boulevard area in Puducherry.

Buoyed by a surge in demand for two-wheeler rentals, the Transport Department has decided to grant permits with yellow registration plates to rental outlets. The move aims to help tourists take bikes out on rent legally while helping the government earn revenue.

According to sources in the Transport Department, revised guidelines have been framed for the ‘Rent a Motorcycle Scheme’. The proposal was sent to the State Transport Authority (STA) and would be followed from November.

The Department assessed the number of such two-wheeler rental outlets at 50. Most of them were located in and around the Boulevard and some operators even had over 100 vehicles for hire.

Apart from this, guesthouses and homestay places had also been lending out bikes to their lodgers.

Illegal operations

The number of two-wheelers with rental outlets was assessed to be around 1,500 to 2,000.

The outlets were not registered with authorities and functioned illegally. In 2012, the Department issued an order banning two-wheeler rentals to promote autorickshaws. However, with tourists preferring rental bikes, the Department decided to regulate their functioning instead.

Though the STA approved the scheme in 2017, the response for regularisation continued to be lukewarm. Now the Department has tweaked the rules in a bid to streamline the process and its functioning.

“The rental outlets should register with the Transport Department to receive the permit. These vehicles will have a yellow coloured registration plate with black alphanumerical characters. The outlets have to compulsorily provide ISI marked helmets both to the rider and the pillion rider and cover them under a comprehensive insurance scheme. The operators must have at least five vehicles and facilities for parking,” a senior official said.

‘Crack the whip’

The Department would start issuing permits on payment of fees for a period of five years. It would also facilitate registration of outlets for changing the number plates.

The operators should comply and regulate their businesses or the Department would start cracking the whip, the official added.