Other e-bike firms will also be considered, municipal commissioner to take final decision

PUNE Although the general body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has given its nod to only two companies to provide e-bikes on rent without calling for an expression of interest (EoI), the administration has now decided to introduce a clause in the agreement to consider other e-bike companies in future with the final decision to be taken by the municipal commissioner

PUNE Although the general body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has given its nod to only two companies to provide e-bikes on rent without calling for an expression of interest (EoI), the administration has now decided to introduce a clause in the agreement to consider other e-bike companies in future with the final decision to be taken by the municipal commissioner.

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Dr Kunal Khemnar, additional municipal commissioner, said, “The City Improvement Committee (CIC) of the PMC sent a proposal to the administration and we gave it our nod. However, we will put in a clause in the agreement that the final decision will be taken by the municipal commissioner. The terms and conditions of the agreement are yet to be finalised but we will take care of the possibility of other companies approaching the PMC to provide electrical vehicle (EV)-related facilities.”

The general body meeting of the PMC on Tuesday passed the proposal which was tabled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporators and Amol Balwadkar, former chairman, CIC and approved in 2020. The PMC administration gave a positive response to the proposal, which was finally approved in the general body meeting sans any discussion. Typically, the corporation calls an EoI for all such facilities but in this case, the process was bypassed.

As per the proposal, VITRO Motors Pvt limited and e Matrixmile India Pvt Ltd will provide e-bikes on rent to commuters. The two companies will provide a total 500 e-bikes and 500 charging stations will be made available to Punekars.

The companies have proposed to charge ₹4 per kilometre for the e-bikes. There will also be one-day, weekly and monthly packages. It is proposed to charge ₹450 for a one-day package of a maximum 150 kilometre. In the weekly package, the companies will charge ₹1,900 for a maximum 1,000 kilometre, while ₹3,800 will be charged for a maximum 4,000 kilometre. The companies will also install charging stations in different parts of the city with at least one station along each main road. A single charging station will charge 10 bikes at a time.

Dr Khemnar said, “The corporation is only providing space for charging stations for e-bikes under our supervision. The list of charging stations has not been finalised, yet. One Energy Efficiency Service Limited (EESL) has approached the PMC for setting up charging stations in the city. At present, we have only e-bus charging stations but in future, we will also have to provide space for two-, three- and four-wheeler charging stations.”