sctl has mandated that eautos and erickshaws shall be battery operated lithium battery and that charging cable should be fastcharging enabled thiruvananthapuram smart city thiruvananthapuram ltd sctl is going for direct purchase of erickshaws and eautos after a series of foiled tenders three firms which took part in the latest tender were disqualified under technical criteria as they could not meet the financial requirements sctl is likely to go for direct purchase through government emarket place gem for erickshaws the portal was launched in 2016 by the commerce industry minister advt as per the website procurement on gem has been authorized by general financial rules by making necessary changes in government rules presently more than 7400 products in about 150 product categories and hiring of transport service are available on the gem portal as per information from the gem website transactions for more than rs 140 crore have already been processed through gemsctl is in talks with kerala automobiles limited kal for the purchase of eautos and other options are being probed for erickshaws the firms could not meet the technical requirements we have initiated talks with kal erickshaws will also be procured via direct purchase said sctl ceo p balakiran read alsoelectric vehicle charging points at mahametro stationsone more incentive to buy electric vehicles in delhi the companies which took part in the bid were communicated about the shortfall of documents earlier and although the documents were presented by august first week none of the firms could meet technical criteria fixed in the request for proposalwe have had around three tender notifications and all of them failed for one reason or another that is why it has been suggested to go for direct purchase gem will offer us multiple options for our requirements a project official said advt sctl will have to purchase 15 eautos and 15 erickshaws the project team plans to launch eautos by onam beneficiary selection will be the next key process sctl has already held preliminary discussion with the city corporation for selection of women beneficiaries for the scheme corporation is keen on accommodating women who are struggling to earn a livelihood the shared auto scheme is expected to be implemented in wards areabased development to ensure connectivity between minimum distance points within central wards sctl has mandated that eautos and erickshaws shall be battery operated lithium battery and that charging cable should be fastcharging enabled besides it should have realtime gps tracking system with emergency request buttons the officials said that the vendors will be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring additional features in vehicles procured through gemthe vehicles should also have the facility for generating printed bills for commuters for greater transparency and acceptance the supplier will be responsible for registration of vehicles with the kerala motor vehicles department erickshaws are expected to ply at a speed below 35km per hour while eautos can reach speeds above 35 kmh by aswin j kumar tnn published on aug 19 2019 at 1149