25 more autos booked for refusal to go by meter

NAGPUR: Driven by constant complaints from commuters about autorickshaw drivers refusing to ply by meters, the three flying squads of Nagpur city's Regional Transport Office on second day of its drive booked 25 more drivers. Of these, two autorickshaws were found to be more than 16 years old, said deputy RTO Vijay Chavhan. "So far, RTO has booked 52 drivers for refusing to ply by meters," he said.
"We are determined to make autorickshaws ply by meter. We will take action against those drivers who violate the norm," the deputy RTO said adding that refusal or misbehaving with commuters will also attract penalty as per licence condition. He also pointed out that the auto drivers will have to be courteous with commuters. Passengers who are fleeced do not generally complain with the RTO and traffic police. On Friday, RTO received only one complaint against an errant autorickshaw from Jaripatka area.
"RTO has started a special helpline for commuters to call in and complain against autorickshaw drivers refusing to go by meter, misbehaving or tampering with meter. After receiving such complaints, we will suspend the licences," Chavnhan said. Apart from RTO's toll free helpline 1800-233-3388, commuters can also lodge their complaints with different zones of the traffic branch: 2555100 (South), 2566763 (West), 2706350 (North), 2748816 (East), 2654616 (Indora) and 07104-237936 (MIDC). He also appealed to volunteers of Jan Aakrosh who are working as additional traffic officers (ATO) to come forward to support the traffic police and RTO in bringing errant drivers to book.
According to motorists, the traffic police should utilize ATO and traffic wardens for creating awareness among motorists. Jan Aakrosh secretary and ATO Ravi Kaskhedikar said they too were ready to create awareness. He advised the RTO to display the toll free number behind every autorickshaw.
Autorickshaw drivers continue to demand a ban on illegal passenger vehicles plying in city. They also pointed out commuters want to go by meter to nearby places but like to settle fare in advance for far away destinations. "Whether we get customers or not, we have to pay the fixed rental ," said president of National Congress Party's Autorickshaw Union Altaf Ansari who operates from Nagpur railway station.