Auto drivers call off strike

Kottayam: Autorickshaw drivers in the municipal region, who were on a strike for the past five days, have agreed to operate fare meters in their vehicles. This was decided in a meeting held between district collector P K Sudheer Babu and leaders of various unions of the autorickshaw drivers on Monday. The leaders also called off the strike.
However, the fare meter implementation is with some conditions.When a person alights at a place from which the driver has no possibility of getting a return trip, the driver can charge an additional 50% of the rate which comes after the minimum charge of Rs 25.
The collector said that he would bring this demand to the notice of the government.
The collector also assigned regional transport officer (RTO) to get the approval of the government in determining the town limit. It was also decided to act against autorickshaws without town permit for picking passengers from the town region.
The meeting was attended by district police chief P S Sabu, deputy collector Alex Joseph, RTO V M Chacko, representatives of various trade unions M P Santhosh Kumar, Philip Joseph, P J Varghese, Sunil Thomas, Sabu Puthupparambil, P S Thankachan, A J Thomas, T M Nalinakshan, Joshy Joseph, and Tony Thomas.
Last week, autorickshaw drivers in the town had challenged the move by the motor vehicles department (MVD) to check fare meters in their vehicles. Two motor vehicle inspectors who were inspecting the vehicles were detained by auto drivers. The drivers demanded that they should be allowed to ply without operating fare meters and should not be penalized for that.
However, MVD officials took a strong stand stating that this was a directive from the district collector. Following this, the auto drivers intensified their protest.