Melbourne City Council considers rickshaw proposal

A group of Australian-Indian businesspeople has submitted an application to Melbourne City Council to operate up to a dozen rickshaws in the city.

An Indian rikshaw puller transports commuters through heavy monsoon rain in Kolkata.

They're popular with tourists and locals keen on getting quickly around busy cities like New Delhi and Bangkok.

But bike cabs or rickshaws have never been part of the transport options available in Australian cities.

Now a group of Indian-Australian businesspeople is trying to change that.

They have submitted an application to Melbourne City Council to operate as many as a dozen of the pedal-powered machines by early next year.

One member of the team Suraj Varma has told Reet Virk from SBS Radio's Punjabi program, how the plan would work.

(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)