The Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu, has appealed to the State government to fix the meter fares for autorickshaws and taxis in the State.
In a resolution adopted at its annual general body meeting held recently with R. Natarajan, president, in the chair, the council said fixation of meter fares for autos and taxis was long overdue and the government should take steps to fix and notify the same.
Through another resolution the council appealed to the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation to reduce the number of permitted autorickshaw stands and remove all unauthorised auto stands as they were causing traffic congestion and encouraging cartelisation. It also urged the Corporation to remove encroachments around the Teppakulam and Nandikovil Street and refurbish and restore pavements for pedestrians in the city.
Following the recent launch of metered autos by the council, the meeting authorised its executive committee members to own and run metered autos under its fleet as the council deems it to be service-oriented.
S. Pushpavanam, secretary, said the council’s effort in introducing metered auto had overshadowed all its other efforts and the initiative has received appreciation from all parts of the State.
Presenting the annual report, Mr. Pushpavanam said the council had also recorded several victories in cases taken up by it before the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission wherein compensation was ordered to be paid to consumers concerned. In one of these cases, Indian Bank was ordered to pay compensation to a consumer for failing to insure a mortgaged house. In another case, Air India was ordered to pay compensation to a passenger for failing to inform him about the cancellation of a flight, he said.
The meeting also unanimously elected the following office-bearers for the term 2013-2015: President: R. Natarajan, Vice-President: C.T. Selvakumar, Secretary : S. Pushpavanam, Treasurer : Mohamed Isaque, and Executive Committee members: K. Lakshmanan, Baby Durairaj, Ghouse Baig, Pon.Gunaseelan, S. Varadarajan, K. Sekar, S. Manimekalai, and S .Charanya.
