KARACHI, Oct 9: The Sindh police authorities on Wednesday cracked down on motorcycle-rickshaws — better known as Qingqis — and seized some 200 of the vehicles declared “illegal and unfit for public transport” and drove off roads thousands others.

The move, which inconvenienced tens of thousands of people travelling short distances, was welcomed by the main transporter and consumer organizations, but elicited a strong reaction from Qingqi-owners who claimed it could render more than 30,000 people jobless.

Though with no registration, route permit, fitness certificate and any other legal certification from the institutions concerned, the thousands of Qingqis have become a crucial mode of transport for Karachiites, highlighting the dearth of a proper public transport facility in the city where the authorities are accused of having ignored the illegal business for almost a decade.

“Additional AIG traffic Ghulam Qadir Thebo has ordered a stern action against unfit vehicles and Qingqi rickshaws to maintain flow of traffic on main roads of the metropolis,” said a brief statement issued by the central police office.

“The additional IG has directed the traffic police officers to take action against Qingqi rickshaws and other vehicles plying on roads without fitness certificate, causing road accidents and traffic jams. He also ordered that all such vehicles should be impounded and action against owners be taken under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance.”

Later talking to Dawn, he said the decision was taken in line with a demand from all segments of society, as the “improvised shape of motorbike” not only posed a serious threat to its passengers but also had become a major source of traffic congestion on all major roads.

“We have not banned it as the Qingqi rickshaws have already been declared illegal by the institutions concerned,” said Mr Thebo.

“We have only decided to take action against them and not allow their movement and in the first phase of the crackdown impounded around 200 Qingqi rickshaws in different city areas. The fresh move may cause a little bit of inconvenience to the people, but I believe it will not last long and other sources of transport will fill the gap.”

In all city districts and almost on all roads thousands of Qingqi rickshaws are seen which on certain routes have replaced buses, minibuses and coaches. Sensing a serious threat to their business, the transporters a couple of years ago had moved the Sindh High Court, arguing that the ‘motorcycles rickshaws’ did not fulfil the requirement of Rules 2 (e) and 2 (f) of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance Rules (MVR), 1969.

The Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) in its petition argued that a motorcycle-rickshaw carried at least seven people, including the driver, while its two-stroke engine was of just 100cc. The front and rear of the vehicle was unguarded, leaving lives of passengers at risk, the petition had said, adding that there was no reverse gear in the motorcycle-rickshaw in contravention of Rule 153 of the MVR.

The transporters demanding a ban on Qingqis now sound satisfied with the fresh decision, and appreciate the traffic police authorities for their “bold move”.

They claim that the city has lost more than 5,000 buses during the past few years on the back of declining business of transporters due to the mushrooming of the “illegal Qingqi rickshaws”.

“Till a few years ago, we had around 18,000 buses but the figure is now below 13,000,” said Irshad Bukhari of the KTI. “We never lobbied against any particular business, but we campaigned for our legal business and approached every relevant forum. We very much welcome the traffic police move. We have requested the government time and again to give us easy loans and subsidies so we can fill all gaps and cater to the need for public transport, but we can never tolerate any illegal business replacing our legal business.”

On the other hand, the Qingqi owners see the decision as “harsh and against the interest of Karahiites”, who were enjoying a convenient and cheap transport facility, particularly during CNG closure, off and on strikes and poor quality of public transport.

“There are more than 30,000 Qingqi rickshaws,” said Safdar Shah of the All-Karachi Qingqi Rickshaw Welfare Association. “We are shocked to learn of this decision as only on Monday we had met the DIG traffic and the transport ministry secretary who assured us that they would sort out the issue of our legality after Eid and allow us registration as well as route permits. We do not see the fresh decision in line with merit but under some certain influence. We are meeting police authorities tomorrow (Thursday) and if our questions remained unanswered, we will announce a future strategy in the evening.”

The decision against ‘illegal business’ of Qingqis emerged as a dilemma for millions of Karachiites, who see it as not meeting the defined laws but are worried over losing a crucial source of transport, which is cheap and available in most hours of the day.

Consumers rights’ activists agree that the lack of willingness of the authorities to make public transport available for Karachiites and least interest of law-enforces in quality of buses compelled the people to look even for an illegal source.

“There is no doubt that the Qingqi rickshaws have no legal cover and they are dangerous for the passengers using them,” said Ahmed Chinoy of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee, who also heads the Consumer Rights Council — a key forum set up by the Sindh governor more than five years ago.

“This is an irony that the people are not offered a legal and due source which is exploited by certain elements and consistent ignorance makes them a crucial public need and a kind of mafia. There is an immense need for reforming the entire transport system and we would definitely campaign for that. We have all formalities done regarding circular railways, mono-rail system and metro bus service. We just need to execute the plan and this should be done on a war footing.”