Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN police have decided to increase e-bike registration quotas by 5,000 after a meeting with six major courier service providers in the city Friday.

    Police said the authorities remain firm over illegal e-bike and tricycle services because such vehicles are illegally refitted and can’t be licensed by authorities.

    Shenzhen started a registration system in 2012, demanding e-bikes engaging in rescue, postal, courier and delivery businesses to register with the police. The e-bikes, which have unified colors, are allowed on roads. So far, 38,000 e-bikes are registered and 34 percent of them, 13,000 in total, are from the courier service industry.

    Yet employees for courier services often use illegal e-bikes and tricycles to transport goods, so the police had asked the logistics companies to stop using e-bikes that were not registered.

    In an action that started March 21, police impounded 17,975 e-bikes and tricycles, and detained 874 people for driving without certificates and 196 people for involvement in illegal passenger services.

    According to a regulation issued by police and market supervision in 2013, e-bikes whose speed is beyond 20 km per hour, whose engine power is above 240w or whose weight is above 40 kg are treated as illegal e-bikes.

    Police acted according to this national standard when checking vehicles. Drivers could be fined 2,000 yuan (US$317) and detained for 15 days if they were caught driving on roads.

    As local logistics companies rely heavily on e-bikes and tricycles to deliver goods to customers, the action left piles of goods undelivered at logistics companies’ warehouses.

    Some companies had to turn to small vans and bicycles to deliver the goods, which increased costs as much as 10 times and reduced efficiency.

    Accidents caused by e-bikes are another reason for police to tackle such violations. In 2015, the city reported 1,150 accidents, a drop of 3.5 percent over previous year. Deaths from such accidents also dropped by 6.1 percent to 431. But deaths involving e-bikes increased by 27.66 percent to 41.

    “The national e-bike standard, which took effect in 1999, clearly couldn’t meet the development of technology and demand,” Lu Jinlong, an official with China Bicycle Association, said, adding the industry should be blamed for risks caused by illegal e-bikes and violations of individual drivers.

    In the eyes of police, tricycles are troublemakers, but for enterprises, they are efficient vehicles in reducing costs. A tricycle could deliver 120-150 items to customers a day and an e-bike could handle half that many.

    “China’s courier service developed very fast, but the vehicles in the delivery industry lag behind. Considering the present logistics system in China, the traditional e-bike service is necessary. The key is how to regulate this industry,” Wei Jigang, vice chairperson of China Logistics Association, was quoted by The Beijing News as saying.