Riding a scooter in Kolkata

Hi,
I've been living in Kolkata long enough for wanting to move around freely without depending on buses, mini buses, metro and taxis that often try to fool you when you look like a foreigner...
From where I come we can ride scooters without a permit but I've heard that in India a licence is needed. Is that true? If yes how difficult is it to get it? Are foreigners entitled to take the lessons for that licence? And most importantly: do you think it's ok to ride a scooter in Kolkata?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Lime80

Be very careful while riding a two wheeler on roads that have tram lines. In many places the lines have sunk and has resulted in trenches, many riders have lost balance & crashed.
Yes a licence is required to ride a scooter. I THINK for mopeds on doesn't need a licence.

Yes, mopeds do not need a licence. But be careful while riding on Kolkata roads. Here riders are more dependent on their brain, alertness, and experience rather than depending soley on traffic rules and signals. Things like traffic in India is different from that of Europe. be careful and cautious.

happy riding

Bhaswaran

Thank you so much for your advices! And maybe I'll go for a moped? Not sure... Does anyone know for how much I can get one? I still have to figure out if I can get a licence for scooters...
And I will be extra extra careful on the Kolkata roads
cheers,
Lime80

Hi Lime,
Hope you are enjoying your stay in Kolkata. As it is suggested by Jyoti da and Bhaswaran be careful while driving in Kolkata. But there are some parts in Kolkata where driving is comparatively safe. We are not sure about the area you want to cover with a scooter.

And for license and its formalities you can consult with :
http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/kolka...schools/97.htm
they are the professionals and will be able to help you better.


- Somnath

Even for a moped you need license unless its an electric one.

Thanks for the update. I mean with electric starters?

You need a licence for everything that runs on Petrol/Deisel..

you need to know where is the licensing authority of your area..visit there..make sure you take a local along..and check the out the procedure for the same...

not sure about Kolkatta, but in delhi they will give you a Learners Licence..and after a months time you can have a drivers license..

If you are looking for a scooter you can go for Honda Eterno, in Delhi it is around Rs.38,000 as of now !!

Thank you for all the advices! I will contact the driving school to find out if a foreigner on a tourist visa can apply for a licence.
Cheers,
Lime80

No, I meant the scooters/mopeds which run on electricity. According to government regulations only vehicles below certain horse power don’t require license, forgot if that was 2.5hp or 4. Most of electric powered scooters/mopeds/cycles fall under this, not sure if there is any petrol driven moped which complies or not.

If I remember correctly, the law was that anything above 35 cc requires a license.

There was a moped launched around 10 years ago (by Kinectic I guess) which was 34.5 cc, so didn't require a license. I am not sure if that moped is still available.

So virtually for every moped you will need a license.

For electric mopeds I guess there must be some Horsepower requirement...