Hyderabad: About half the 90 lakh vehicles in the state are uninsured. Among them are nearly 60 per cent of the 3,532,92 lakh autorickshaws. Most autorickshaw drivers say they come from low income background s and cannot pay the Rs 5,000 vehicle insurance.
Driving a vehicle without motor third party insurance is an offence under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Vehicle insurance pays for legal liability in case of injury or damage to any third party life or property.
In 2015, the Hyderabad traffic police levied Rs 37.44 lakh penalties in 18,622 cases booked against vehicles without insurance. This fell to Rs 27.8 lakh penalties from 14,035 last year.
Asked about uninsured autorickshaws, Mr T. Raghunath, joint transport commissioner, said, “There are a few autorickshaws owned by well-connected persons. In most cases, owners hire poor drivers and pretend they cannot afford insurance.”
He said insurance companies should take up public campaigns to educate drivers about the importance of vehicle insurance.
Autorickshaw driver P. Yadagiri, 40, from the Old City says, “If we are lucky we earn Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day but some days it becomes really difficult to earn this much. After the increase in the number of cabs, our business has gone down.”
“After getting penalised by the traffic police a year back, I got my vehicle insurance done with whatever money little money I had saved but it is not the case with everyone.”
