With the State government allowing intra district public transport services to resume from June 2 onwards, on the second day of the relaxation fewer auto rickshaws, e- rickshaws and pedal rickshaws were seen plying on the City roads.
Founder of Jharkhand State Diesel Auto Driver Federation Dinesh Soni, State President Ramkumar Singh, Ranchi Mahanagar E- Rickshaw Driver Union Patron Nandan Singh and President Vikas Shrivastava jointly issued a statement on June 3 stating that a fake body by the name of Ranchi District Auto Driver Union has released a list with increased fares. The new prices are neither in favour of the passengers nor the driver and the officials will soon meet the Traffic SP to resolve the issue, said the communiqué.
“A decision on increasing the prices has not been taken till now. If the fares are raised, it will be in favour of both the passenger as well as the driver. Before the lockdown, on routes where Rs 10 was charged with limited seating now the prices may get doubled but not more than that. The new guidelines issued are in favour of everyone and will be strictly followed,” said Ranchi Mahanagar Petrol Driver Federation Chotu Paswan.
As per the new guidelines, with the number of passengers being limited, the vehicles will also have to follow social distancing norms. Only two passengers will be allowed in the four- seater autos while a maximum of four customers can sit in a seven- seater vehicle from now onwards.
The drivers will also have to maintain a record with the name, address, mobile number, pick up point and destination of each passenger. The vehicles cannot stop mid way to pick and drop passengers anymore. The drivers will also have to carry sanitizers and after dropping the passenger the interior and exterior of the vehicle will have to be cleaned.
“On the second day of the relaxation, very few drivers took out their vehicles. Our passengers mostly comprise of people coming to the City from nearby places and students but with schools and colleges still closed, they were not many commuters. Presently, drivers too are very careful as no one is immune to this virus,” added Pawan.