City residents tired of haggling with autorickshaw drivers could look forward to some relief soon. Fare meters could soon become mandatory for city autorickshaws.
The State government recently issued an order extending the meter fares fixed for Chennai to rest of Tamil Nadu as well and the district administration is expected to notify the implementation of the same soon.
The move, if enforced strictly, will come as a huge relief for regular commuters who often complain over the ‘exorbitant’ and arbitrary fares charged by autorickshaws in the city.
Autorickshaw fares have long been unregulated in the city. A majority of over 4,000 autorickshaws in Tiruchi continue to ply without meters.
Consequently, commuters have to pay through their nose even for short rides. A trip from Central Bus Stand to the Chathram Bus Stand, a distance of less than 6 km, would cost Rs. 120.
The previous attempt to introduce a semblance of regulation was made in 2007 when the then Collector Ashish Vachhani introduced a fare card and asked autorickshaws to fix meters. But the move fell through as several other previous attempts.
However, now the district authorities say the government order would be implemented. For a change, autorickshaw drivers’ unions say they are willing to abide by the order.
District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan said the government order would be notified soon and enforced after giving time for the autorickshaws to be fitted with electronic meters.
Transport Department sources said the GO would be implemented after convening a meeting with the autorickshaw drivers’ unions. Autorickshaw drivers are to be provided 45 days to fix electronic meters.
Consumer organisations have welcomed the government move.
“We welcome the order. It is up to the District Collector and the City Police Commissioner to enforce it without delay,” said S. Pushpavanam, secretary, Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Pushpavanam, who had been crusading for fixing meters in autorickshaws in the city, even introduced a fleet of ‘meter autorickshaws’ to demonstrate that it was viable.
“We demonstrated it is profitable to run autorickshaws at fares less than the rates fixed by government,” he said. Mr. Pushpavanam demanded that ‘auto stands’ be done away with as autos are always supposed to be running. The waiting charge should be reduced and fixed at Rs. 3.50 for 10 minutes, he said.
Autorickshaw drivers’ unions seem to favour the move.
Bakrudeen Babu, district secretary of the CITU-affiliated autorickshaw drivers’ union, said the union favoured the introduction of meter system.
However, the rates should be revised to suit local conditions.
The district administration should constitute a tripartite committee that should meet regularly and revise the fares in proportion to change in fuel price.
R. Raja, district secretary, CITU, said that Tiruchi could not be compared with Chennai and the number of trips that an auto driver gets here was much less than in the metropolitan city.
Hence, the rates should be fixed depending on the local conditions. The union, while favouring the meter system, however, sought supply of petrol, diesel, and LPG at subsidised rates for autorickshaws.
