Tuctuc Ltd
Tuctuc Ltd was an auto rickshaw operator in Brighton, England. The name tuctuc and web address tuctuc.co.uk are now used by Carbonyte UK Ltd, which sells TVS tuctucs and manufactures the Carbonyte Pod, a van version of the tuctuc. Carbonyte also makes an electric and hybrid version of the tuctuc.
History
The company was started in June 2006 by Dominic Ponniah, a British-Asian who got the idea after a business trip in India. Tuctuc Ltd started off with 12 Bajaj Retros in various livery designs ranging from the Union Jack to Burberry check.
Ponniah investigated different possible licensing régimes and chose to license the service as a passenger bus service. Low capacity led to problems meeting the scheduled timetables. The company was fined £16,500 for breaching its bus licence terms, but this was cut to £8,000 on appeal.
Burberry forced the company to take the 'Chavrolet' rickshaw off the road, claiming a violation of Burberry's copyright. Dominic Ponniah, manager of Tuctuc Ltd, then decided to close the business until Spring 2007 when 10 new, larger autorickshaws would be operational.
The company was forced to remove its stop signs from the seafront after it was found they were on listed lamp posts.
Tuctuc restarted on 23 May 2007 with just six new Thailand style tuk tuks, but with all the former 12 Bajaj Auto Rickshaws still operational. Tuctuc had tried to sell them off but received no bids. Tuctuc switched to operating a dial-a-ride service which meant passengers had to book before travelling. The service stopped operations in Brighton shortly after.
References
- Adams, Maia (29 July 2006). "Where I'd rather be". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
- Naughton, Philippe (6 July 2006). "The best job in the world?". News Blog. The Times Online. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
- "Tuk-tuks to operate across city". BBC News. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-06.