50 per cent of 2 lakh autos invisible'

Hyderabad: Over half of the 2 lakh autorickshaws, legally and illegally plying in the twin cities are driven by drivers whose details are not available with the transport department.

Traffic police said this is a security issue as the identity of driver should be mentioned in at least in one of the vehicle documents as many drivers do not have driving licences.

Though 50 per cent of the autorickshaws are driven by “as on date owners”, the name of the first owner has not been changed in the documents despite repeated re-sale of the vehicles.

With new permits being barred, the vehicles are resold after repair and painting. Many drivers purchase used autorickshaws through borrowing from private financiers but do not update the registration details.

When e-challans are issued for violation of traffic rules, the notices land up at the address of the first owner. In majority of the cases, even the first owners were found to have shifted from that address.

“As a result, many e-challans have remained unpaid. So when traffic cops find any autorickshaw with more than three pending challans, they seize the vehicle. We had represented the matter to traffic cops who have now proposed to set up special counters at the Goshamahal stadium and take other measures. We have agreed to the plan they put up,” said Auto Unions Joint Action Committee leaders A. Sathi Reddy and B. Venkatesham.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) A.V. Ranganath said the counters would be set up shortly. "It is very important that all drivers and owners of autorickshaws have an identification that is available with the RTA and the traffic police. We have decided that transfer of ownership will be done with the financier signing the document, making the driver the owner of the vehicles as in many cases the details of the first owner is not available,” he said.