The impounding of around 900 auto rickshaws and over 2,800 challan during a week-long drive launched by the Transport Department on July 20 against the erring auto drivers had given some hope to Delhiites that hiring autos would become hassle free. But not so as commuters still complain of overcharging by auto rickshaw drivers.

IT professional Amit Gupta is not very impressed and said he still comes across auto drivers who refuse to go by meter. "Most of the times auto rickshaws simply refuse to go to certain places. The problem is most rampant outside the metro stations. I face this problem usually at Saket," he said adding, "Even when one agrees to go, he rarely agrees to go by meter."

But Transport Department officials don’t concur with Gupta. They claimed that the drive launched against auto drivers for overcharging, refusal and misbehavior, among other violations had a positive impact.

A senior official said they carried out the drive throughout last week when 888 auto rickshaws were impounded and 2,639 were challaned. "There has actually been an impact on the ground and auto rickshaw drivers are behaving more responsibly now. There may still be room for improvement for which we have extended the drive and it will be carried out throughout this week as well," he said.

After the extension of the drive, the number of impounded auto rickshaws has increased to 927 and the challaned auto rickshaws to 2,842 till Thursday, said the official.

It is different story that many auto drivers are not happy with the drive. General Secretary of Delhi Pradesh Auto rickshaw Sangh Rajendra Soni accused the Government of not keeping its poll promise.

"They had said that they will not impound the vehicles but only challan them for minor offences. They are impounding vehicles for minor offences and are not heeding to our requests. We have conveyed our displeasure, requesting them to stop the drive. If the Government continues with its drive we will go on strike after 15 days," he said.

On the other hand, Kishan Verma, president of Federation of All Delhi Auto Taxi Transporters’ Congress, has accused the Government of not consulting them before starting this drive. "In the so called meeting that they had with auto rickshaw drivers before launching this drive, they did not invite us or any other auto union except those that are associated with them. They are playing with the livelihood of auto drivers and we will not tolerate it," he said.