The City Traffic Police once against launched a crackdown on autorickshaw drivers fleecing commuters, from Saturday.
During the intensive checks carried out at the Anna Statue Junction, Chinthamani Junction in North Coimbatore and at Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. the police registered cases against 50 drivers under 41(1) of Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Rule read with Section 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Meeting
The action was taken following a meeting in which traffic police and Transport Department officials took part and which was chaired by City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan, here on Friday.
The police officers said that the police were instructed to strictly enforce the fare fixed by the government with effect from October 16, 2014.
The meeting was aimed at checking the extent to which autorickshaw drivers complied with the new fare structure and to discuss efforts to be taken to ensure enforcement of fare fixed by the government.
The crackdown has started in less than a week after representatives of autorickshaw trade unions petitioned the police commissioner – asking the police to relax action against autorickshaw drivers. The police personnel said they started checking vehicles once again from Saturday as the commuters refrained from lodging complaints against erring drivers.
According to the police, there was difficulty in booking cases against some faulty drivers as the drivers turned the meter on when they saw the police and also requested the passengers to deceive the police by saying that the trip was only as per meter fare.
Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials said that they were already carrying out the drive. A senior RTO officer said that they would also join hands with the city police and intensify the crackdown on fleecing autorickshaws from Monday.
The Coimbatore Consumer Cause appreciated the city police for initiating stringent action against autorickshaws fleecing commuters.
Implementation
Its secretary, K. Kathirmathiyon, said that the exercise would benefit the public only when the crackdown on faulty autorickshaw drivers was strictly implemented as a continued effort.
“Unfortunately, whenever the police or administration takes efforts to enforce the fare, a section of the autorickshaw drivers make all possible efforts to stop it in one way or the other,” he said.
He expressed confidence that more public would use autorickshaws if the drivers plied by the meter fare. Mr. Kathirmathiyon added that this had been proved by autorickshaws plying with meter fare.