Gramin Seva: Autos through backdoor?

NEW DELHI: Even as the Supreme Court has put a cap of 55,000 on the total number of autos allowed to ply in the city, a new shared auto service called Gramin Seva seems to be slowly populating arterial roads in the capital. The transport department says it will stop issuing fresh permits and is in the process of rationalising routes for the service, which is basically being planned for rural belts.But with the department failing to curb the auto menace in several decades, questions are being raised about whether the government will be able to restrict the new vehicles.
So far, the department has issued about 2,000 permits for shared autos under Gramin Seva. The nine-seater vehicles of either Mahindra or Tata Magic make are a common sight in Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, BRT corridor, MG Road, Badarpur in south Delhi; and Seelampur, Shakarpur, Mother Dairy Road, IP Extension in east Delhi, among other areas. According to officials, the response to the scheme has been "overwhelming'' and the department is flooded with applications from people who want to run the service.
"There is a huge demand for Gramin Seva but we will stop issuing permits. The department has started charting out specific routes for the vehicles and permits will be issued strictly against these. We will ensure the vehicles don't stray from the assigned routes which will be limited to the rural areas where DTC buses can't reach. All vehicles will be fitted with GPS for added surveillance,'' said Arvinder Singh, transport minister.
The government doesn't have an upper limit for these vehicles and officials say that the numbers will depend on the demand. The shared autos have been registered under contract carriage permits and are allowed to charge fares of Rs 5, 7 and 10 from passengers. They are being widely seen as a substitute for autos whose numbers can't be increased even though there's a demand because of the 1996 SC order.
The shared autos have already become a traffic nuisance. "We recently carried out a special drive in which a large number of shared autos were caught plying without permits and numbers. They slow down traffic on arterial roads and we will start initiating strict action,'' said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).
"If the government wants to increase the number of autos, why hasn't it approached the Supreme Court for relaxation. When one particular type of vehicle is a nuisance, how can it start another similar mode in the name of public transport?'' an official questioned.
Even as the Gramin Seva operates like autos, it has been kept out of the purview of the auto and taxi cell of the transport department. It's rather governed by the rules for chartered buses making the permit process simpler. According to sources, the department has received complaints about permits for shared autos being issued under the wrong heads. "Contract carriage means the entire vehicle needs to be hired. These autos are operating like stage carriage. A lot of complaints are being looked into,'' said an official.