West Bengal's government sees the rickshaw trade as an outworn symbol of the colonial yoke.
But what else are the thousands of rickshaw-wallahs, in one of the world's poorest cities, to do?
In a primary school near a huge slum in Dhaka, pupils aged between six and 10 include the children of rickshaw drivers and women who break bricks for a living.
The company has also had a tight customer focus, laser-targeting auto-rickshaw drivers for the vehicle.
"We feel the power, " declared 22-year-old Moussa Ghaznavi, the son of a rickshaw driver now studying media science.
From a solar-paneled rickshaw they explore the cuts being made in transport -- nearly the whole public transport system is run on natural gas (CNG) and the Metro system is expanding to take 17 million cars off the road reducing emissions by 160 millions tons.
Beg, is the best guess of a group of rickshaw-pullers on Debendra Ghosh Road, a typically crowded alley in central Kolkata.
Reports in the Indian media said that the teenage girl had taken an auto rickshaw home from near a busy mall in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.
The town, which buzzes during the day with tourists catching trains to and from Aguas Calientes, is hushed at night, with locals peddling three-wheel motorcycle rickshaw taxis, transporting weary walkers the few blocks to their destination.
As for the hundreds of millions of other potential customers, they may wait some time before buying their first car, and in the meantime they might be found riding in the back of an RE60, sampling the experience and hearing about it firsthand from pleased rickshaw drivers.
The day's first arrivals are a barely literate rickshaw driver, an elderly couple and a call-centre worker.
In Wamena, a sprawling town in the highlands, it is wise to take a bicycle rickshaw, not a motorcycle taxi.
Disturbed by a passing motorcycle rickshaw, a macaque pokes it head from beneath the arch to observe the scene, before retreating nonchalantly into the shade.
They flagged down a flat-bed rickshaw driver, who pedaled them and their gear to the Beijing Hotel.
The historical, architectural treasure-trove of Old Goa, filled with the remnants of a city that once rivalled Rome, are a quick rickshaw or moped ride away.
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