Pune: The city improvement committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has approved the 'Electric Bike Renting Project' under which 500 electric bikes and 500 charging stations will be made available to citizens. If the Standing Committee and General Body of PMC approve this project, Punekars will soon get an electric bike on a rental basis to commute within the city.
The e-bike rental project has been approved under the 'Green Pune' initiative. A three-month-old company 'V-Tro Motors Pvt Ltd' will be running the project and PMC won't have to bear any cost for it.
The company has proposed to charge Rs 4 per kilometre to citizens who would take the electric bike on rent. It also has single day, weekly or monthly packages. The company has proposed Rs 450 for a single day package of maximum 150 kilometres. In the weekly package, the company will charge Rs 1900 for maximum 1,000 kilometres and for the monthly package it will charge Rs 3,800 for maximum 4,000 kilometres. The company will also install charging stations in different parts of the city with at least one station on each main road. A single charging station will be able to charge 10 bikes at a time.
City Improvement Committee head and Corporator Amol Balwadkar said, "The decision-making process at the administrative level is time-consuming. E-bikes should be used on a large scale to reduce pollution and save the environment. We found this concept very positive and hence accepted the proposal given by the company. The implementation of this decision will only be after the approval of the Standing Committee and General Body."
"The e-bike renting project will be beneficial for citizens when the Pune Metro starts running. It will help reduce the vehicular traffic too. The PMC will not have to make any investment in the project. The Pune Smart City and Pune Metro will be offering their support to make this project successful," said Balwadkar.
E-BIKE RENTAL PACKAGE
One km - Rs 4
150 km in a day - Rs 450
1000 km in a week - Rs 1,900
4000 km in a month - Rs 3,800