Hyderabad: More than 70 per cent of the autorickshaws operating in the city do not go by the meter. Despite this, the autorickshaw drivers feel that their demand for a hike in minimum fare and doing away with challans is justified due to several hikes in LPG and petrol prices in the last one year.
Passengers on the other hand are harassed and there have been instances of autorickshaw drivers asking for Rs 200 to Rs 350 for a five-six km- journey.
While the unions are going on strike now, the autorickshaw drivers have been jacking the prices after each fuel price increase and have been char-ging as per their whim.
The autorickshaw unions, meanwhile, are demanding that the minimum fare in the city be increased from Rs 16 to Rs 25 and also the per-km meter charge be increased from Rs 9 to Rs 15.
Autorickshaw drivers say that the recently introduced GO 108, which has increased the fine amount to Rs 1,035 for wrong parking, is very tough for them.
“We earn about Rs 300 per day after paying off the autorickshaw rent to the owner. How can we pay a fine of Rs 1,035 and what is the use of driving an auto-rickshaw? There is simply no control on the cost of gas, vegetables, rice and other household items, then how can there be a limit to only autorickshaw fares? Also, auto-rickshaw drivers are looted by private financers if they purchase an autorickshaw. These are the things the public don’t know about us.
“Moreover, if there is an increase in LPG and petrol prices and no increase in the basic fare, how will it be feasible to drive an autorickshaw?” asked general secretary of AP Auto Unions Samaikhya, A. Sathi Reddy.
While autorickshaw drivers might still justify the hike saying that only few drivers are spoiling the name of all autorickshaw drivers, passengers swear that majority of drivers refuse to go by meters.
“I have faced problems several times as they refuse to go small distances.
Also, for distances between three to five kilometres they charge more than double the actual rates. If the meter rates are increased, they will simply negotiate for higher fares saying that rates have gone up,” said a professional, Kalyani Boora.
Meanwhile, there are only around 3,000 traffic cops to control over 1.5 lakh autorickshaws plying in the twin cities. Due to the massive imbalance between the number of traffic cops and autorickshaw drivers, officials say that controlling the menace is close to impossible and as a result, the problem has increased over the last two years.
A first time visitor to the city, Mohnish Waikar, said, “We are here for a sports tournament and we had only one day to explore Hyderabad. But we were charged Rs 400 to go from Lifestyle Mall in Be-gumpet to Charminar. That was the least that autorickshaw drivers agreed to. If we rely on autorickshaws in Hyderabad, we cannot go anywhere.”
Part of the same group was Supraja Bhogle, an MBA student from Nagpur. “It’s surprising to see that none of the autorickshaws were ready to go by the meter. In our city, meters are followed pretty strictly,” she said.
Next: fare hike okay only if drivers follow meter
fare hike okay only if drivers follow meter
Hyderabad: Officials say that the demands of the autorickshaw unions are partly justified only if they abide by the meter rule. Officials feel that even with an increase in fares, drivers are bound to exploit the minimum fare hike and charge even more from passengers.
While autorickshaw drivers and unions maintain that the actual percentage of autorickshaw drivers plying without meters is only 5 per cent, the officials say that it’s as high as 75 per cent of which 5 per cent do not have meters while the remaining 70 per cent refuse to go by meters.
The officials also say that autorickshaw drivers who do not go by the meter charge exorbitantly during the day and much higher than the stipulated one and a half time extra for night journeys.
When asked whether the demands of the autorickshawunions were justified, joint transport commissioner T. Raghunath said, “The demand of a meter price is partly justified but then they will tend to exploit the increased fare and will still not follow the meter.
There are increasing complaints of auto-rickshaw drivers refusing to go by meter, charging as per their wish and refusing to take passengers in most directions. Under these circumstances, what is the use of hiking the fare? They will still not abide by the rules and charge extra saying that meter fares have increased.”
The auto drivers do have a point in opposing the GO 108 as they have to stop for passengers at road sides and not only at auto stands. “What are we supposed to do if a passenger stops us for a ride? We have to stop to talk to the passenger and in the process we end up getting huge fines. This is not justified,” said auto driver, Vishwanath Rao.
Officials also believe that demand of doing away with the GO 108 is justified and even the Supreme Court had ordered a reduction in the penalty amount.
