Police harassment, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the autorickshaw drivers on Sunday, would no longer affect their livelihood.
Addressing an estimated 2,000 of them at the Auto Samvad, Mr. Kejriwal said a dedicated committee had been formed to look into their welfare in addition to necessary amendments being made to the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act to shield them from ‘unnecessary harassment for minor violations of permit conditions’ such as not wearing a uniform.
“In three months, we have delivered on more than half the promises made to you. The biggest among these is rule of 66/192 A of the MV Act which the traffic police invokes to seize autos if the driver is not in proper dress and other minor violations,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
“We have taken the power to book an auto driver under this section – which earlier allowed the police to impound your vehicle for as many as 15 days – from them and given it to the Transport Department. Now, the police cannot book you for minor offences,” he said. However, the Chief Minister said, the police were still empowered to take action against auto drivers found driving without valid permits, fitness certificates, licences, and for driving under influence of alcohol. Mr. Kejriwal said the government had also empowered drivers to refuse a passenger by putting up a display board denoting the location of their domicile while returning home for the day.
“If you are going home in the evening, put up a placard with your route on it and you will not be issued a challan for refusing commuters,” he said.
We have taken the power to book an
auto driver for minor violations from traffic police and given it to the Transport Department
