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AyRojgar

CNG autorickshaw renting out

Buying an autorickshaw and letting it to a driver for a fixed daily jama. BRTA's fixed jama is Tk 900; Tk 1,000-1,200 is actually taken, and up to Tk 1,800 across two shifts.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
CNG autorickshaw renting out

CNG autorickshaw renting out

Starting capital
৳3,75,000 – ৳18,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 3 people
First sale
7 – 30 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
42 – 67 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Mobile service · Medium difficulty

About the business

The business is buying a CNG autorickshaw, handing it to a driver and collecting a fixed daily payment called jama. The owner does not drive; he collects rent by the day. BRTA fixed that jama at Tk 900 a day with effect from 1 November 2015, and the same notification fixed the fare: Tk 40 for the first two kilometres, Tk 12 for each kilometre after, and Tk 2 a minute waiting. Neither figure has been revised in eleven years. What actually happens is different. In March 2026 Dhaka drivers told reporters they hand the owner Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 a day, and where an owner lets the same vehicle to two drivers in a morning and an afternoon shift, one vehicle brings in Tk 1,600 to Tk 1,800. The driver's gas costs Tk 300-350 a day, and a full day on the meter bills only Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 - less than the jama alone. That arithmetic is what drove the meter off Dhaka's streets; drivers now bargain, and Tk 500 is demanded for a seven-kilometre trip. The real capital is not the vehicle but the paper. New registration in Dhaka and Chattogram has been all but frozen since 2004. In 2019 a Bajaj autorickshaw cost about Tk 375,000 in the showroom but sold for Tk 1.5-1.8 million once it carried a Dhaka number. The money goes into the number, not the machine. District registration is open, so outside the two metros the capital needed is far smaller.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳3,000 – ৳20,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳900 – ৳1,800 / unitDisputed
Variable cost৳100 – ৳250 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin86.1% – 88.9%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue7 – 30 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time42 – 67 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 1 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss5% – 12%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity1 – 2Market quote

What you need to start

  • A four-stroke CNG three-wheeler with a working meter and current tax token. In 2019 a Bajaj autorickshaw cost about Tk 375,000 in the showroom; the same vehicle carrying a Dhaka registration number sold for Tk 1.5-1.8 million, and about Tk 1.2 million in Chattogram.Equipment
  • Motor vehicle registration from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). Three-wheeler registration fee: Tk 633 up to 100cc engine capacity and Tk 1,150 above 100cc. Rates effective 01-01-2014 (Regulation 74(1), M.V. Regulations 1984).Licence
  • Route permit from BRTA. A CNG autorickshaw is a contract carriage. Annual fee: Tk 325 for one district, Tk 483 up to three, Tk 645 up to six, Tk 970 up to twelve and Tk 1,290 beyond. The application form costs Tk 150 (Regulations 59A and 65, M.V. Regulations 1940).Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, plus VAT and signboard fee. Issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
  • Fitness certificate from BRTA. For a motor vehicle other than heavy, issue and renewal costs Tk 450 and the inspection fee is Tk 450. A duplicate after damage costs Tk 150.Licence
  • Picking drivers and keeping the daily accounts. The owner need not drive, but knowing which driver will withhold money and which will look after the vehicle is the main skill here.Skill
  • A CNG filling station and a trusted three-wheeler repair garage. Parts prices are rising fast, so without a mechanic whose rates you know, costs do not stay under control.Supplier

How the work is done

  1. 1Decide where it will run. Dhaka and Chattogram metropolitan areas have a separate policy and new registration there is all but frozen; at district level registration is open and the capital needed is far lower.
  2. 2Register the vehicle at BRTA. The registration fee for a three-wheeler is Tk 633 up to 100cc and Tk 1,150 above 100cc (rates effective 01-01-2014).
  3. 3Take the route permit. A CNG autorickshaw is a contract carriage, so the fee is Tk 325 a year for one district and Tk 483 for up to three; the application form is Tk 150.
  4. 4Get the fitness certificate and renew it yearly. For a non-heavy motor vehicle the fitness issue and renewal fee is Tk 450, plus a Tk 450 inspection fee.
  5. 5Keep the tax token current. Out-of-date papers mean a police case when a sergeant stops the vehicle, and that money ultimately comes out of the owner.
  6. 6Take a trade licence from the city corporation or municipality, naming transport as the trade.
  7. 7Find a driver. Check the type and validity of his driving licence yourself - a driver caught without one gets the vehicle impounded.
  8. 8Put the jama and its terms in writing: how much a day, how many shifts, who pays for gas, who pays for small repairs and what happens after an accident.
  9. 9Collect the jama in cash every day and write it down. Letting one or two days slide turns into a month.
  10. 10Set money aside every month for repairs. The owners' association has complained that CNG spare part prices have risen several times over in recent years.
  11. 11Keep the vehicle's life in mind. In 2001 an autorickshaw's permitted life was nine years; under pressure from owners it is now fifteen. At the end of the term a new vehicle is registered in the same owner's name.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · The second metropolitan policy area after Dhaka. In 2019 a numbered vehicle cost about Tk 600,000 less here than in Dhaka, so the capital required is lower.
  • Strong fitDhaka · Dhaka metropolitan has about 15,000 registered autorickshaws held by roughly 2,500 owners. Jama and fares are highest here, but so is the price of the registration paper.
  • PossibleBogura · The commercial centre of the north, with heavy passenger movement on market days.
  • PossibleCumilla · A district on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, where the autorickshaw is the main way of getting from upazila to district town.
  • PossibleGazipur · Factory workers and dense settlement, and because district-level registration is open the paper does not cost what it does in Dhaka.
  • PossibleJashore · Heavy movement of passengers and traders towards the Benapole land port.
  • PossibleNarayanganj · An industrial area next to Dhaka with passengers all day; Dhaka-numbered vehicles face restrictions entering here.
  • PossibleRangpur · Regular movement between the district town and upazilas; the jama runs lower than in Dhaka.
  • PossibleSylhet · A separate fare list for city CNG autorickshaws was debated here in 2025, and travel by remittance families is heavy.
  • Weak fitBrahmanbaria · Press reports have alleged trading in CNG registrations here, so the papers need checking carefully before buying.

Risks and cautions

  • HighCompliance: Taking more than the government's Tk 900 jama is a breach, and everybody does it. On 26 January 2025 BRTA wrote to Dhaka Metropolitan Police to stop excess jama collection and on 10 February to act against drivers. Under section 81 of the Road Transport Act 2018, charging above the meter carries up to six months' jail or a Tk 50,000 fine or both. Protests by drivers and owners got the instruction suspended, but if an elected government revives it the whole arithmetic changes.
  • HighWorking capital: Almost the whole outlay goes into the registration paper, not the vehicle. In Dhaka in 2019 a Tk 375,000 vehicle sold for Tk 1.8 million with a number. That paper's value rests on a government decision - if BRTA opens new registration, the paper's price collapses and a large part of the owner's capital vanishes with it. A 2007 plan to allot five thousand new autorickshaws to drivers has been stuck in litigation for over a decade; the day it clears, prices fall.
  • HighDependency: The owner's income depends entirely on the driver. If he falls ill, does not bring the vehicle in or holds back the jama, that day's income is zero. In March 2026 Lal Mia, a driver from Khilgaon, said that running on the meter does not even cover the jama - a driver who cannot make the day's money gives the vehicle back the next day and the owner must find another.
  • MediumDemand: Competition has grown. In the words of Lal Mia, twenty-five years a driver, Pathao and Uber cars, motorcycles and battery autos take the passengers, so the day's jama does not come in. When passengers fall, drivers cannot pay, and the owner has to cut the rate.
  • MediumOther: Informal road costs. Drivers say a sergeant who catches them without a meter files a case worth Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000. The owners' association and the Consumers Association of Bangladesh both allege the sector has become an extra income stream for police and officials. None of this appears in any account, but it comes out of the jama every month.

Sources

What changed

No corrections have been published yet.

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Stories about this business

What went wrongCNG autorickshaw drivers in Chattogram, in a Prothom Alo report

From 1,500-2,000 taka a day to 600, with the rest of the day in the gas queue

After a fire at the floating LNG terminal off Maheshkhali, gas supply in Chattogram broke down. Refuelling that once took 20-30 minutes now means four to six hours in a queue, and one driver's daily takings fell from 1,500-2,000 taka to 600.

Reasons
Supplier problem, Dependency

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