38 rickshaws face action in Collector Mohammed Y Safirulla's surprise visit

Kochi: In the wake of series of complaints against pre-paid autorickshaw drivers, district Collector Mohammed Y Safirulla along with top Motor Vehicle Department officials conducted a surprise inspection at the Ernakulam South and Town railway stations late on Saturday. “The drive was mainly to check whether the auto-rickshaw drivers were having mandatory documents like city permit and fitness certificate. Also we‘ve received complaints of auto-rickshaws being driven by those with criminal background during nights,” said Regional Transport Officer P.H. Sadiq Ali.

Action has been taken against 38 autorickshaw drivers while 13 vehicles were seized. “The vehicles taken into custody are those being operated without RC book or City Permit, those found overcharging and also tax defaulters,” the officer said. Besides the collector and the RTO, Deputy Transport Commissioner K.G. Samuel too oversaw the inspection drive carried out from 7 pm Saturday to 2am on Sunday.

The action comes two days after noted playback singer Sayanora Philip was caught in between the ongoing tiff between Uber taxi and traditional auto-taxi drivers. When she boarded a Uber taxi from North railway station at 3 am on Friday, autorickshaw drivers there asked her to get out of the taxi saying that she can hire only prepaid auto or taxi from inside the station. They even tried to attack the Uber taxi driver. “A minority among the autorickshaw drivers really tarnish image of the whole community. If commuters find it safe to travel in autos and the drivers behave properly and only ask for the fair price, then the public will increasingly choose them,” Sadiq Ali said.