They are the third gender among vehicles, trying hard to fit in.
Auto-taxis, as the name suggests, falls somewhere between the three-wheeler autos and the four-wheeler taxis in the hierarchy of transport vehicles. And that’s not doing the auto-taxi operators, the relatively new addition to the public transport network, any good.
The auto drivers are shooing them away from their stand, calling them a misfit among the three-wheelers. And they can’t even join the ranks of cab operators. The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has issued them taxi permit while they consider themselves part of the autorickshaw community.
But the traditional autorickshaw operators are in no mood to welcome them. And this has led to dust-ups between auto-taxi and autorickshaw operators at places. One such wrangling was brought to the notice of Transport Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh at a sitting held here on Wednesday when a few auto-taxi operators based at Moothakunnam in North Paravur accused autorickshaw drivers of hampering their service. Mr. Singh directed the Joint Regional Transport Officer, North Paravur, to ensure their right to operate.
“They have been given permit to operate anywhere in the State. Disrupting the functioning of licensed operators is not acceptable,” he said.
Anil Krishnan, who recently bought the four-wheel vehicle, is one of the 16 operators in Moothakunnam who are finding the going tough.
“For four months most of us were operating from a point opposite to the autorickshaw stand at Moothakunnam junction. Then as our number increased, autorickshaw drivers organised under prominent unions created problems. A month ago we were forced to shift out to a place away from the eyes of prospective passengers. Now I rarely earn over Rs. 100 a day. It’s difficult to make a living,” he said.He said the autorickshaw operators hunkered down and refused to let auto-taxi drivers to move back despite the intervention of the Transport Commissioner.
Biju O.S, who shifted to auto-taxi after driving autorickshaws for 24 years, said they were now waiting for a copy of the direction that the Transport Commissioner had given to the Joint Regional Transport Officer. “Besides, we have also moved the High Court to secure our right,” he said.
Fare fight
The fear that auto-taxis might woo away their customers led the autorickshaw drivers to even lodge a complaint with the authorities accusing auto-taxis of operating at a minimum fare charged by autorickshaws instead of the minimum fare of Rs.100 fixed for cabs.
But that complaint turned out to be a dud. MVD and police officials said no action could be taken against a public transport operator for charging a low fare.
M.B. Syamanthabhadran, State president of Kerala State Auto & Taxi Workers Federation (CITU), said the Transport Commissioner would first have to conclude whether the vehicle in question was autorickshaw or taxi cab. He denied throwing a spanner in the operations of auto-taxis.
“Our position is that auto-taxis cannot operate from the autorickshaw stand as they are supposed to park at taxi stands. The new location for them was decided in consultation with authorities concerned, including the local body,” said Mr. Syamanthabhadran who was evasive when asked whether the auto-taxis would be allowed to operate from a point near the autorickshaw stand.
A senior MVD official told The Hindu that a proposal to slot auto-taxis as a separate class and fix a specific fare had been pending since the term of the previous government. “As per the Central Motor Vehicle Act the vehicle marketed as auto-taxi does not come within the definition of autorickshaw. So, the only option was to amend the State Motor Vehicle Rules to categorise them as autorickshaws. But that will set a bad precedent,” he said.
MVD had initially turned down a demand from the auto-taxi operators to consider them as autorickshaw drivers fearing that it would lead to friction.
As of now, no stand has been assigned to auto-taxi operators. Such a proposal will have to be initiated by the local bodies, which will then be placed before the Road Transport Authority for approval.
