Having effected a significant hike in auto rickshaw fares, the Government is set to act tough against the errant auto drivers in the Capital. A high-level meeting of all stakeholders -- including the Delhi Police and enforcement wing of the Transport Department has been called on Monday by Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami to devise a mechanism to check fleecing by the TSR drivers and challan them.
Taking into account the increasing number of commuters’ complaints about overcharging by auto drivers, the Government now wants them to run strictly by the meter or else face hefty penalty. According to sources, the Government might also ask the auto rickshaw unions to give an undertaking stating that they would run only by the meter.
In case of non-compliance, the concerned authority will take punitive action against the faulting drivers. The proposed meeting will also have participation of the transport department, DIMTS, Delhi Traffic Police and various auto rickshaw unions in the Capital.
In another step to curb fleecing by the auto drivers, the Delhi Traffic Police will be issuing stickers to them that will contain two dedicated complaint numbers where the aggrieved commuters could register their complaints. Apart from this, the traffic police department will also ensure that TSRs at railway stations operate only under the prepaid service allotted to them.
“A sticker with the complaint numbers will be pasted inside the auto rickshaws from where these numbers will be clearly visible to the passenger. While one number will be for call purpose, the other will only be for lodging a complaint through SMS. The traffic policemen will start pasting the stickers from next week,” said a senior police official.
At present, the three wheelers have a complaint number of the enforcement wing of the Transport Department printed on them. The traffic police would start off this process next week by first pasting these stickers on at least 10,000 auto rickshaws. Currently there are around 55,000 auto rickshaws plying in the city.
The dedicated number for registering complaints against the auto drivers is 25844444 and for those who wish to record their complaints in written, the SMS helpline is 56767. The nature of complaints could vary from drivers refusing to extend service as per the meter reading, overcharging, misbehaviour or harassment and refusal to go itself. For an SMS to be registered as a complaint, the commuters need to cite the nature of offence, the registration number of the three-wheeler, location and the timing of offence in the text message. Officials said they would also launch a special drive from next week to prosecute auto-rickshaw drivers fleecing commuters, especially after the recent decision of the Delhi Government to hike auto and taxi fares.