Chennai: Commuters in the city are continuing to face a tough time with auto rickshaw drivers refusing to follow fares fixed by the government and charging exorbitant rates for small distances despite Madras high court suggesting a fine of Rs 1,500 on drivers who fleece passengers.
R. Sarala wanted to hire an auto from Egmore railway station to reach her residence at Purasawalkam, she was shocked at the quoted fare that is double what the driver would get if he went by the meter. To cover the distance of 3 km, she was charged Rs 80.
“It was neither a late hour nor was there a traffic jam on the road. None of the drivers were willing to turn on the meter. So I had no other option but to be fleeced by the driver,” she said. Most of the drivers refuse to switch on the meters. Even if some of them do it they would demand Rs 20 to
Rs 30 more than meter charge, said K. Radhakrishnan, a passenger in Nungambakkam.
With the auto drivers continuing to charge more than the fare fixed by the government in August 2013, mobile app based call taxi and auto rickshaw has become more popular among the passengers.
Passengers complain that transport department and the traffic police have failed to enforce usage of meters by the autorickshaw drivers and to take consistent actions on errand auto drivers. They wondered whether the increasing fine amount alone would prevent the drivers from fleecing.
J. Seshasayanam, general secretary, Tamil Nadu AITUC Auto Workers Federation, said his union will not accept the move to increase the fine amount to Rs 1,500 and they would implead in the case.
Stating that his union is against the driver’s culture of fleecing passengers, he said the government’s failure to revise the fare for the past three years had led to this situation. “The cost of fuel, spare parts, tyre, insurance and essential commodities have increased by several folds in the last three year. But the auto fare was not revised,” he noted.
He said that for an auto driver to earn an income of Rs 500 a day, he have to drive for 100 km and spend Rs 425 on five litres of petrol plus oil. “He has to work for at least 12 -16 hours a day. He will get Rs 500 only if he gets passengers continuously without needing to drive empty,” he said.
Chennai city traffic police has been acting on complaints from people about auto drivers charging exorbitantly or refusing to turn on the meters. “As we do not have the power to suspend auto permits, we normally recommend to the transport department to cancel the permits for repeated offenders,” an official said.
