The much anticipated introduction of meter fare system for autorickshaws supposed to be implemented in the city from Saturday came as a big disappointment for commuters as a majority of the autorickshaws continued to ply without meters.
There was no attempt to enforce the rule with the Transport Department officials taking a rather lenient view on Saturday. One of the officers said that they would launch a drive from Monday.
Consequent to a recent order of the State government extending the revised meter fares fixed for Chennai to rest of Tamil Nadu, the district administration had notified that autorickshaws should fix the meters before December 5. As per the government order, the minimum fare (for the first 1.8 km) for autos will be Rs. 25 and Rs. 12 for every additional kilometre.
Although a large number of autorickshaw drivers had been flocking the Regional Transport Offices over the past few days to get the fare cards which have to be prominently displayed inside the vehicles, most auto drivers did not bother to fix the meters.
Autorickshaw unions conceded that less than 10 per cent of an estimated 6,000 autorickhaws in the city had been fixed with meters. “It is true that just about 10 per cent of the autorickshaw drivers have fixed the meters. Though we are ready to fix the meters, the district administration should first talk to us to discuss our demands,” said Bakrudeen Babu, district secretary of the CITU-affiliated autorickshaw drivers’ union.
The unions are demanding more time to fix the meters and claim meters are in short supply. “We need at least two months time as there is a shortage of meters and many of us have to go to Chennai to procure the meters. The price of the meters has gone up from Rs.2,300 to Rs.2,800 in view of the big demand in the State. With the battery costing another Rs.2,500, we have to shell out Rs. 5,000,” Mr.Bakrudeen said. He wanted the district administration to talk to the manufacturers and arrange for supply of adequate number of meters.
However, District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan in a statement issued a couple of days ago had made it clear that meters were available in adequate numbers. Some of the auto drivers also claim that they were not able to get loans from banks if they had dues already.
The autorickshaw unions are demanding that the minimum fare be fixed at Rs.30 and Rs.15 for every additional km taking into account the local conditions.
Meanwhile, commuters remain disappointed as autorickshaw fares have long been unregulated in the city. Consumer organisations have also been pressing for strict enforcement.
“The Police and Transport Department authorities should strictly enforce the order. The police have a greater role in enforcing the meter fare system and they should launch a drive immediately,” said M. Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations.
