The Delhi autorickshaws' dilemma over signboard

Weeks after the Delhi Government had made it compulsory for auto rickshaw drivers to put up a signboard mentioning their destination while going home, majority of auto rickshaws are still plying without any board. Though a few auto rickshaws have started following the Government’s order, there is no uniformity in the usage of such boards. While some of them mention their destination, some just mention that they are going “home” without mentioning the destination and some just mention whether they are on duty or off-duty. Most, however, are still plying without any board.

Auto rickshaw drivers claim that they are not given any proper format regarding what to write on the board. “We are just told to install a yellow coloured board with black text without which, fitness certificate won’t be given to the vehicle,” said Krishen Kumar, an auto rickshaw driver. BK Sharma, another auto rickshaw driver, said he has installed a board a few months ago when it was announced in Auto Samvad. While many auto rickshaw drivers are installing it only to take fitness certificate. 

Sharma added that in a few months, most autos would have these boards. “We have to renew fitness of our vehicles every year. While some of them have 2-3 months left to renew their fitness, some have 6-7 months left. Soon they will all have these boards since they won’t get fitness to ply on roads otherwise. The same thing had happened when the Government had ordered installing meters in the autos as well,” he said while admitting that he is not sure if there is a proper format to be followed while installing the board.

Auto rickshaws drivers are still not sure of what is to be written on these boards due to which, there is no uniformity on the boards that have already been installed. While some have written the destination, many others have just written “Going Home” or “Off Duty” etc without mentioning the destination or the route. The Transport Minister had, however, said the destination needs to be clearly mentioned on the board so that the passengers get to know if the auto rickshaw is going in that direction or not.

In such a scenario, without clear mention of the route on the board, auto rickshaw drivers can still take advantage of the loophole and keep the board on even when they are not going home and refuse passengers on pretext of the destination not falling on their route.The Government had announced during Auto Samvad that auto rickshaws can install a sign board mentioning the route being taken by the auto while going home. If such a board is installed then while going home, they can take only those passengers who have to go to a destination that falls on his route, Transport Minister Gopal Rai had said.

last month, irked by non implementation of the formula by auto rickshaws, Rai had said if they do not install such a board, the autos will not be given a fitness certificate from now on.  “It will have to be 15”x 6” in size with a yellow background with the name of the destination written in clear words in black colour,” Rai had said.