The diktat of the district administration appears to have no value at the prepaid autorickshaw counter in Mangaluru Central Railway Station even as many watchful autorickshaw drivers attribute this to an organised racket operating with the tacit support of the police and others.
While the Regional Transport Authority has fixed Rs. 25 as the minimum fare for 1.5 km, you need to cough up at least Rs. 35 for the same distance if you board the cab at the station.
Sankeet from Chennai had a similar experience recently when he travelled from the station to the City Centre, a distance of 1.5 km. When he objected to the fare of Rs. 35, a group of persons cornered him and snatched the slip. Mr. Sankeet entered a complaint in the complaint book at the station. Even the policeman on duty nearby did not help him, he said.
Social activist G. Hanumanth Kamath had to pay Rs. 45 from the station to PVS Circle, a distance of 2.3 km, the other day, which otherwise should have been less than Rs. 35. He retained the fare slip with him and did not hand it over to the driver to prove the charge. Mr. Kamath told The Hindu that as soon as the passenger boards the cab, the driver takes the slip and never returns it. As against Re. 1 service charge, the operator collects Rs. 2, he added.
He said a well-organised cartel appeared to be working in connivance with the authorities. The city police are doing nothing to prevent the harassment. When Mr. Kamath raised the issue at the district vigilance committee meeting chaired by Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, recently, he promised to address the issue. “How the issue can be addressed when none from the city police was present at the meeting,” Mr. Kamath said.
An office-bearer of one of the aurorickshaw unions, who did not want to be named, said a cartel of drivers is working at the station. The person who has obtained the contract, has sub-leased it, he alleged. He also alleged that the police were in connivance with the cartel.
Mangaluru City Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar said he would look into the issue.
