Pune's rent-a-bike plan hits roadblock

The “rent-a-bike” scheme started in the city last April has come to a cropper due to poor response from Puneites.

In fact it was so poor that two of the three operators have withdrawn from the scheme within months of its launching.
On April 29, State Transport commissioner Dilip Jadhav had inaugurated the country’s first “rent-an electric-two-wheeler” scheme in Kothurd. The scooter to be used for the scheme was an electric vehicle which was to run on a battery. The company had planned to set up the scheme at three locations in the city — Kothrud, Wanavdi and Chinchwad.

The company had introduced three models of the scooter for this scheme and the rent was to be calculated on the basis of per minute usage. A commuter going for a lowest model was supposed to pay one rupee per minute, while the second model was available at Rs1.25 per minute.

The highest model of the electric scooter had a rent of Rs1.50 per minute, which meant that if someone took the scooter from Kothrud to go to Pune station, the rider will take nearly 30 minutes and will have to pay Rs45.

Pratap Jadhav, whose motor school in Wanavdi was to provide scooters for the scheme, told DNA, “As per the contract, I had to pay Rs25 lakh in March, and they had promised that the scheme will kick off from June. I was supposed to get 35% out of the entire earnings every month.”

“With virtually no response till December, I finally wound up the business,” he said.

“For eight months I was sitting with no income. People were approaching me for bikes after reading the news in newspapers. My reputation in the market is ruined,” he added.

A city-based company had developed a software which was installed in all the 50 vehicles to track the movement of the vehicles.

When contacted, district collector Vikas Deshmukh told DNA, “The issue has been followed by the Regional Transport Office (RTO).”

However, the RTO is under the impression that three franchises were still working on the project. Arun Yeola, an RTO official, said, “On May 3, we had given permission to them as it was not limited to corporate sectors only. If they are not doing so, we will have to set-up a meeting in this regard and come to a conclusion. If need be, we will cancel it.”