Calcutta, Dec. 8: A bill seeking to make registration and road tax mandatory for e-rickshaws or totos is to be tabled in the Assembly soon as part of the plan to legitimise and regulate a mode of public transport that has so far operated in a grey zone.

The West Bengal Motor Vehicles Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 specifies that an e-rickshaw cannot carry more than four persons, excluding the driver, and above 40kg of luggage. The maximum speed is 25kmph and the net power of the motor should not be more than 2,000W.

According to a conservative estimate, more than 1.5 lakh totos operate across the state. Calcutta and its fringes have the highest density of totos, followed by Behrampore and Siliguri. Transport department officials said it was difficult to determine the exact fleet strength in the absence of registration data. At least four new totos hit the roads every day.

An e-rickshaw can be registered as a contract carriage but won't be eligible for a transport permit. There will be a clause in the registration terms barring e-rickshaws from plying on national highways and bus routes, as mandated by central norms that took effect last year.

In September 2015, while hearing a PIL filed by a man named Ramaprasad Sarkar, a division bench of Calcutta High Court had criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for its failure to crack the whip on totos that don't conform to the norms fixed by the ministry of road transport and highways.