In a move that is sure to come as a relief to lakhs of people who use autorickshaws for commuting, drivers harassing commuters can face a hefty penalty of up to Rs 10,000.
Auto drivers caught refusing commuters and not charging fares according to the metre can be fined up to Rs 10,000 on subsequent violations. This is almost double the penalties levied for the first offence, which can range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.
To address increasing problems being faced by commuters, Delhi Traffic Police had started creating a database of erring auto drivers since January this year.
Keeping a record of repeat violators helps the police slap a higher penalty for subsequent violations. Prior to this, every offence was treated as a first offence and thus the
violators were issued challans for the first violation.
The hefty challan
according to the traffic police will act as a huge deterrent to auto drivers.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla said: “With traffic police preparing a database of violators, reckless auto drivers, who act on their whims and fancies cannot get away so easily now. A hefty penalty will be levied on any auto driver who is found refusing commuters and overcharging more than once. The database allows the officer to cross check with the control room whether the auto driver was prosecuted for the same offence recently. Once
this is confirmed, the penalty issued for the violation, can be increased and taken up to Rs 10,000.”
The traffic police have been manually creating the database of erring auto drivers since January this year. Once the e-challan system is operational, this database will be uploaded on to the main server.
Plan to make wayward autos pay hefty price Traffic police had also launched a drive to prosecute auto drivers refusing commuters and not plying by the metre from June 13.
“As part of the ongoing drive, auto drivers are fined anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 for harassing commuters. If the drivers are caught for the same violations again, they will be fined anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000,” added the additional CP.
Despite the recent hike in auto fares, it is common to find drivers refusing to charge fares according to the metre or refusing to go to the destination desired by commuters. Officials said that as part of the ongoing drive, people should come forward and register their complaints on the traffic police helpline number 25844444.
“To ensure that erring auto drivers toe the line, people should note down the number of the auto and register a complaint on the helpline. This acts as a deterrent as the drivers can face a court penalty of up to Rs 5,000, which can go as high as Rs 10,000 for repeat offenders. To encourage people to come forward and register their complaints, the traffic police have launched various awareness campaigns, including, advertisements on leading radio channels,” said an officer of the traffic police.