Crackdown on autos sans meters

50 cases registered against erring drivers in Kollam city in the past few days

The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) and traffic police have launched an intensive crackdown on autorickshaws operating in the city without meters and charging exorbitant rates.

Despite several instructions from the departments concerned, autorickshaw drivers in the city had refused to use the mandatory fare meters during trips.

From July 1

Though the Kollam Corporation had declared that all autorickshaws plying in the city limits would have to turn on the meter from July 1, many of the drivers opted to keep them idle on the first three days.

Nearly 50 cases were registered in these days against drivers for flaunting the rules.

“Special squads have been conducting inspections on many roads in the city and we have noticed a visible fall in the number of drivers plying without meters on the third day. We are conducting this drive to spread awareness among the drivers and also the public. The public should ask the drivers to turn on the meter and refuse to pay any extra money,” said Kollam Regional Transport Officer here on Wednesday.

Complaints

The department has made arrangements for the public to register complaints.

“They can contact the MVD squads directly, go to the nearest police station or file their complaint at the Regional Transport Office. All the complaints will be addressed,” he said.

Currently, the department is imposing a fine of ₹200 for operating without meters, and officials said it would be hiked to ₹2,000 in case of repeat offenders.

Stringent action

“For one week we will try to educate the drivers and if they keep the meter idle even after that, stringent action will be taken. On the third day, 65% of the drivers were found using meters and by the end of the week the rest will also fall in track.”

Tough task

Though the authorities had tried to streamline the autorickshaw services in the city, making the meters functional turned out to be a real task.

For the past many months, the drivers had been citing the delay in getting their meters recaliberated as per the latest fares as a reason.

“But now most of them have recaliberated their meters. For those who have not done that yet, we have issued a sticker, based on which they can calculate the fare. But for using that also turning on the meter is mandatory,” he said.