Auto drivers in Kharghar go rogue, charge excessive fares without meter, residents complain

Residents of Kharghar have complained against auto drivers for fleecing passengers by demanding exorbitant fares and refusal to charge as per the meter. Fares by electronic meters have been made mandatory by the Panvel RTO, despite this some errant auto drivers have been blatantly violating the rule.

This trend was seen amongst auto drivers ferrying passengers to long distance areas like Kharghar sector 35 to 40 and Taloja node. Residents alighting at Kharghar railway station past midnight opt for an auto rickshaw either by share auto or individually to reach home in sector 35 to 40 in Kharghar. However, passengers are complaining that auto drivers charge around Rs 200 to these destinations, that too without meter reading.

The Panvel RTO helpline number fare.'090046 70146' to lodge a complaint against errant auto rickshaw drivers is not operational.


A resident of Hyder Park in sector 25, Kharghar, requesting anonymity said, "I boarded an auto rickshaw near my building to reach a temple about one km away.As the auto rickshaw driver did not put down the meter, I questioned him, he told that it will charge me Rs 30 minimum fare. He even claimed that no auto rickshaws in Kharghar use meters to ferry passengers. I took pictures of the auto rickshaw's registration number and posted it on social media for the concerned authorities to take legal action."

He said, "The auto rickshaw driver identified as Saiful Ansari had the audacity to claim that auto rickshaws are not supposed to run by meter in Kharghar and that this node has "special" rules. Such auto rickshaw drivers should be banned from running autos for lifetime in my opinion."

A Kharghar resident Ganesh Poojari (45) said, "Once I had to take an auto from Kharghar station after midnight to reach my house in sector 35. But the driver told me that he will charge Rs 200 to drop me. When I demanded that he charge as per the meter, he told me to get down if it was not affordable. When I caught another auto, he negotiated the fare to Rs 150. I was helpless and had to pay the demanded fare."

Panvel Assistant RTO Nilesh Dhote said, "We have been receiving verbal complaints from passengers in Kamothe, Khandeshwar and Kharghar area about some auto rickshaw drivers charging exorbitant without meter reading. Hence,the RTO flying squad has been conducting special checks and taking legal action against the miscreant auto rickshaw drivers by confiscating their driving licence for suspension. As more complaints are pouring in about auto rickshaw drivers plying without using electronic meters and charging excessive fares from passengers, we will intensify the drive against the auto rickshaw drivers."

Santosh Kane, senior inspector of Kharghar traffic unit said, " From Jan1 till March 31, we have taken legal action against 745 rickshaw drivers at Kharghar Railway Station, Three Monkey point on Sion-Panvel highway, D-Mart and various other places for driving without license, without uniform, parking rickshaws that will obstruct traffic, driving without RTO permit, ferrying passenger on front seat and beyond permissible seating capacity, traffic signal jumping and other traffic violations."
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