The Madras High Court has ordered that autorickshaw fares be revised once in three months in the State based on the fuel price.
With fuel prices now coming down, revision of fares had become necessary. Thus, periodic revision would take care of such a situation, the court said.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, passed the order on a PIL petition by the Coimbatore Consumer Voice, represented by its secretary, N.Logu, for a direction to the government to revise the fares in Coimbatore.
Following the court directive, the government, in a compliance affidavit, said it issued a notification on October 16 revising the fares in Coimbatore as well as in other districts on a par with the rates notified for the Chennai Metropolitan area in August last year.
Disposing of the petition, the Bench issued a series of directives.
The aspect of revision of fares depending upon fuel price should be reviewed once in three months.
The toll free numbers for lodging complaints of overcharging should be specified in each district and prominently displayed in autorickshaws. Besides this, the conversion table, photograph of the driver and owner with his address, in both vernacular and English should be prominently displayed on each autorickshaw at the rear of the driver’s seat.
The Regional Transport Authority and the police authorities should ensure compliance with the directives by autorickshaw drivers, the court ordered.
