In an attempt to weed out auto-rickshaws plying on the city’s roads without a legal permit, the Transport Department will be introducing Aadhaar-linked e-permits for drivers. The number of permits has been frozen at 1.25 lakh and for the past five years, officials have refused to issue new ones.
However, this has done little to curb auto drivers from ferrying passengers illegally. Transport Commissioner B. Dayananda admitted that Bengaluru has over 1.5 lakh autos.
The freeze on permits has spawned a thriving black market, with the selling price being as high as ₹25,000 while the Transport Department issues one for ₹500. Fake documents is another problem that officials are hoping to crack down on with the introduction of Aadhaar linked e-permits. “As the permit we issue is only a sheet of paper with a hologram sticker, it can be duplicated easily,” conceded a senior official.
“The new e-permits will be tamper-proof, cannot be photocopied, and will have several other security features,” said Mr. Dayananda. However, to weed out fakes and those without permits, all auto drivers will have to renew their permits to get the new e-permits, he added.
Chandrashekhar, president, Rajiv Gandhi Auto Drivers’ Federation, welcomed the move saying it would streamline the sector and kill the black market in permits.
Officials are planning to roll out the initiative in two weeks. Auto drivers will have to bring their three-wheelers and permits to the RTOs along with their Aadhaar cards, following which they will be issued new e-permits. “Once all 1.25 lakh auto permit holders get the new e-permits, it will be easy to weed out illegal autos,” Mr. Dayananda said.
However, many auto drivers and organisations are of the opinion that the Transport Department should increase the number of autos in Bengaluru.
“While there is a freeze on auto permits, there is no such regulation for taxis,” said Manjunath, an auto driver.
Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru pointed out that autos are cheaper than taxis and are a more feasible option for last-mile connectivity.
Two-stroke autos being sold in other districts
The ban on two-stroke autos in Bengaluru, which will come into effect from April 2018, may only shift the pollution problem to tier-two cities and villages. Rather than scrapping the autos, owners are finding it more lucrative to sell them in districts where the ban is not being enforced.
“Depending on the condition of the vehicle, a two-stroke auto sells for anywhere from ₹22,000 to ₹30,000 in the districts. The Transport Department cannot deny auto drivers this cushion,” said C. Sampath, secretary of Adarsha Auto Union.
He argued that many drivers are not in a position to scrap their two-stroke autos and buy four-stroke ones by April. “A new four stroke auto costs ₹1.64 lakh. If I scrap an auto, I will get ₹3,000-4,000. The Transport Department claims it will give a subsidy of ₹30,000 for every scrapped auto. But, they have a budget of ₹30 crore to subsidise 10,000 new autos while the city has close to 50,000 two-stroke autos. What will the others do?”
B. Dayananda, Transport Commissioner, said that since pollution control norms are specific to local conditions, they can neither enforce a ban on two-stroke autos in tier-two cities nor prevent drivers from selling them there. “First, we will weed out two-stroke autos from Bengaluru, and later we will gradually try to take them off the roads in other parts of the State as well,” he said.
The department is all set to open two scrap yards in Rajajinagar and Nelamangala with a capacity to scrap 150 autos a day.
