Tuctuc Ltd
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Tuctuc Ltd was an auto rickshaw operator in Brighton, England.
[edit] History
The company was started in June 2006[citation needed] by Dominic Ponniah, a British-Asian who got the idea after traveling on 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.
Low capacity led to problems meeting the scheduled timetables. The company was fined £16,500 for breaching their 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 lampposts.
Tuktuk restarted on May 23rd 2007 with just six new Thailand style tuk tuks, but with all the former 12 Bajaj Auto Rickshaws still operational. Tuktuk had tried to sell them off but received no bids[citation needed]. Tuctuc switched to operating a dial-a-ride service which meant passengers had to book before traveling.
The service has now stopped operations in Brighton indefinitely.
