Cebu City requires e-bikes, e-trikes to register for regulation

MANILA: Hundreds of owners of electric bikes, electric tricycles, and pedal-powered sidecar-mounted bicycles (trisikad) came to the Cebu City Traffic Operations (CCTO) to register their units as the city government imposes regulation for their use.

CCTO Chief Raquel Arce stated that her office is now putting City Ordinance 2531 into effect. This ordinance prohibits electric bikes, electric tricycles, and pedicabs from operating on major thoroughfares in order to protect motorist safety.

Under the ordinance, they are only permitted in interior portions of a barangay. They are not authorized to go on the city's main roads or highways. According to Arce, this restriction will improve the safety of both the driver and the passengers.

Arce stated that the city's role is only regulatory by limiting the number of units in one barangay, emphasizing that not all electric bikes and electric tricycles used to transport passengers for a fee will be approved for registration, depending on the size of a village.

She explained that there is a huge risk if e-bikes are permitted on highways as vehicles go at high speed on major roads.

According to the ordinance, owners who are caught operating an unregistered vehicle will face a P500 fine, while those who go beyond the allowed route will incur a P1,000 fine and a three-day impoundment.

Photo from Cebu City Public Information Office

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