[TusharK]

Sri Lanka is likely to restrict the import of 3-wheelers from India. According to a media report, the Sri Lankan Transport Ministry has indicated that the move is being taken in the wake of increasing road accidents and traffic congestion.



Sri Lanka is an important export market for Indian companies and accounted for 14% of the total 3-wheeler exports from India in FY 2017. However, it must be noted that in 2016, it accounted for 30% of the total 3-wheeler exports from India.

In recent years, 3-wheeler manufacturers have started exporting their products to South Asian, African and Latin American countries, which has led to less dependence on the Sri Lankan market.

According to the credit rating agency - ICRA, the import restrictions aren't expected to have a big impact on the domestic industry and losses are likely to be offset.

Source: Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[nishsingh]

I concur. This contraption is from the last century and shouldn't be allowed on public roads going forward.

The 3 wheelers have Zero safety, and the fact that they don't have doors promotes overloading of passengers.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by nishsingh

I concur. This contraption is from the last century and shouldn't be allowed on public roads going forward.

The 3 wheelers have Zero safety, and the fact that they don't have doors promotes overloading of passengers.

People have contested that a 3 wheeler is safer than a bike/scooter, and that is the reason it should not be banned.

However, what they fail to understand is that, a scooter or a bike is a personal transportation tool. You fall, you break your own bones.
The 3 wheeler is a commercial passenger transportation device.
When that falls/overturns, bones of innocent "passengers" break, in addition to the drivers'.

[A M]

They should be phased out in India as well. Could be replaced with Mahindra Gio and the likes.

[anjan_c2007]

Three wheelers were the in-thing since the 1950's, till about a decade back. Perhaps their domination was unchallenged till about five years ago in the Indian market. A near monopoly for Bajaj in this market, after API stopped making three wheelers branded as the Lambretta 175 and later API 175 in 1985, gave Bajaj the added advantage. Everything they sold on three wheels was accepted by the market. The Scooters India Ltd (SIL) three wheeler Vikram, also competed with Bajaj, but its niche was slightly different, being a six seater.

Come the Piaggio Ape, the TVS King or the Atul range lately, things have'nt changed a wee bit on the safety front. All these have very unsafe body shells and their safety and stability are questionable.

There are limitations however, as looking at the list of export markets for these three wheelers, nearly all are developing and poor countries. The moment safety is looked into for upgradation by the manufacturer, its cost will increase and could hover near the ex- factory price of a small car. The small engines enable these to run economically. Upon the enforcement of the BS I - IV pollution norms, their engines were upgraded or else, these manufacturers would have been happier to make the outdated, rickety,smoking and polluting two stroke engines. All such "value for money to its owner " factors contribute to the continuing demand for three wheelers in India and abroad.

Sad to say that we have been seeing overloaded three wheelers with school kids. Whenever these have dashed against larger motor vehicles, the fatalities have been multiple for its occupants.

Or else, in this age of school buses, Uber and Ola, plus other e-taxi aggregators, the three wheelers production need to have stopped mainly for safety reasons.

The signal sent from Sri Lanka needs to be a writing on the wall for these frail and rickety machine manufacturers. The "poor country" or "developing country" tag may not sustain these manufacturers for long as most markets are waking up with new practicalities, safety and pollution norms.

[SmartCat]

The original ET article is poorly written - there is only one line about "reduction in congestion and high number of accident deaths involving auto rickshaws". Rest of the article is blah blah blah

This ET Auto article is much better -
https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...-tuks/61159261

In the absence of public mass transit options, the rickety three-wheelers are a popular transport option as well as a key source of employment, with an increasing number of young men becoming rickshaw drivers. "We have over a million trishaws and our roads cannot take any more," he told parliament, adding that while the government cannot impose a blanket ban on imports, it would limit them.

The above article mentions that there are 1.2 million auto rickshaws in Sri Lanka. That is an insane number of auto rickshaws for a country with a population of -



When you look at the age demographics of Sri Lanka, about 60% of the above population is above 18 and below 65.
http://worldpopulationreview.com/cou...ka-population/
We can exclude women (50% of population) since they don't drive auto rickshaws. The important number is that there are 6.3 million adult males.

1.2 million auto rickshaws and 6.3 million adult males. One auto rickshaw for every 5 adult males. It's no wonder they are involved in 20% of accident deaths in Sri Lanka.

[landcruiser123]

If we want to be the fastest developing economy, we must show progress to match it.
Our government should work on a policy to phase out 3 wheelers from urban areas in the next 10-15 years.

Unfortunately, we have unions. The guys who drive the country depend heavily on votes from the same section to which the drivers of these contraptions belong to.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

If we want to be the fastest developing economy, we must show progress to match it.
Our government should work on a policy to phase out 3 wheelers from urban areas in the next 10-15 years.

Unfortunately, we have unions. The guys who drive the country depend heavily on votes from the same section to which the drivers of these contraptions belong to.

So, if we are a fast moving economy we remove a common form of public transport, and replace it with private cars and bikes? . Then complain of gridlock and heavy pollution. Had you said more metro rails and ac buses may be it makes sense. But removing a cng auto and putting in a petrol nano or cd100 is pretty backward imho.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

So, if we are a fast moving economy we remove a common form of public transport, and replace it with private cars and bikes? ....

With due respect- I'm sorry, you got me all wrong. If I give a long explanation, I think it'll not add value to the subject of the thread.
I believe in this-

A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. Its where the rich use public transportation

Some people will use cars and we can't stop them. But Autos need to be phased out as they don't have any safety features to speak of. And the Government needs to invest heavily in public transport systems- there's a limit to capacities of roadways in cities.

[aerohit]

I am not sure if many of you have visited Sri Lanka, if you havnt, let me tell you that driving sense in Sri Lanka is very civilized and they drive JDM market cars over there.

Being rich or poor country - Kenya, Thailand, France or Sri Lanka - all have nearly similar driving sense.

Good decision by Sri Lanka - these 3 wheelers pollute both sound and air, and are unsafe.

Sri Lanka has much smaller population so they cant afford to let their people die i guess.

[zulfi hansi]

Auto (3 wheeler) is unsafe and most of them who drive it, actually use it as a weapon on road. It should be banned, period.

On the practical side; why do we need Auto when we have NANO!

Is there any way we can ban Autos in India?

[RajeevMD]

Let me explain this to you all from a local point of view.

Yes, Sri Lanka has a large number of three wheeled auto rickshaws for a population of just 21 million people. But the popularity of the auto rises from the fact that they are cheap and accessible to the lower income population. You may ask why not cars like in India where people from the same income group could drive on four wheels.

The answer is simple, the Sri Lankan auto industry is 100% an import based industry. That means all vehicles here are subject to high import duty. Recently there were posts that the Lexus NX is going to be imported to India as a CBU and hence would be priced way above the competition (almost 200% of the competitor's unit cost). But here in Sri Lanka, everything is imported, thereby putting all cars out of the reach of low income people. For reference, an Alto 800 Lxi imported from India costs upwards of LKR 22 lakhs. That is almost 10 Lakhs in INR.

These factors push the sale of autos ahead. Unlike India where autos are mostly used as taxis, in Sri Lanka they are family vehicles, and yes WOMEN DRIVE AUTOS in Sri Lanka just as women drive cars in India. People do long trips and road trips in autos. In cities like Colombo driving an auto as a taxi is more profitable than certain desk jobs.

Now coming to the pricing, 5 years ago an auto cost around 4 lakhs and were 100% financed by leasing companies. This flooded the market here. Now the government has jacked up the prices to around 8-9 lakhs and also put a restriction that leasing companies could finance only upto 25% of the vehicle value and the rest need to paid upfront by the buyer.

Moreover autos are more unsafe than bikes and are a menace to drivers on the road. Ask any Sri Lankan who doesn't own an auto, and they would be so pleased to see them all taken off the roads.

Disclaimer:

I do own a Bajaj RE 4 stroke auto and find it very convenient to ply through town on a busy day.

[The Rationalist]

Originally Posted by RajeevMD

Let me explain this to you all from a local point of view.

Yes, Sri Lanka has a large number of three wheeled auto rickshaws for a population of just 21 million people. Sri Lankan auto industry is 100% an import based industry.

Hi RajeevMD,
What is the annual car sales in Srilanka? Is there any car manufacturer there, I mean any factories? Do cars that are assembled attract the same duty as imported as a completely built unit?

Regards,
The Rationalist.

[srishiva]

I think autos are also highly maneuverable and with the wheelbase and turning radius is easy to go anywhere. In country like ours (and Sri Lanka) this really helps in extending the public transport to lot of places where other forms cannot reach.

I personally hate them since they are a pain in traffic, move slowly and source of noise and air pollution.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by RajeevMD

I do own a Bajaj RE 4 stroke auto and find it very convenient to ply through town on a busy day.

wow, now that's unique. How about some pics of your ride? Do take some time out and write a detailed ownership review. Trust me, your autorickshaw ownership thread will be a superhit on team-bhp.

Do Sri Lankans buy Chinese vehicles? (autos, bikes etc)