GURUGRAM: The deadline given by the district administration for installing fare meters in autorickshaws ends on Thursday, but TOI has learnt that merely 600 of some 18,000 autos have got the same installed to date.
In the past three to four years, the district administration has made several attempts to ensure installation of meters in autos but failed on all occasions.
Following a meeting with the auto unions on May 4, the district administration directed the auto drivers to get fare meters installed by June 30 and threatened to impound any auto plying without the same.
This time, a special programme was launched by the district transport authorities to install fare meters in autos but the owners or drivers showed little response. Only few came forward to get a fare meter installed in their vehicles.
Members of the auto unions, who had earlier agreed to stick to the timeline, have now demanded a revision in fare and an extension of the deadline. The government-approved fare, at present, is Rs 12 for the first kilometre and thereafter Rs 8 for each km. Waiting charges are Rs 30 per hour. There are no additional charges for the luggage of passengers.
Yogesh Sharma, secretary of the Haryana Auto Union, said the existing fare is very low and it will be difficult for auto drivers to survive with such fare. “Last time when the fare was decided, CNG was around Rs 40 per kg, now it has crossed Rs 80 per kg. We want the base fare to be raised to Rs 30 and per km fare to Rs 15,” he said.
Ravinder Yadav, secretary RTA (regional transport authority), said, “June 30 is the deadline for the installation of fare meters. Till now, there is no direction for an extension of the deadline. We will start taking action against autos without fare meters from July.”
“If authorities decide to impound autos without fare meters from July, it will cause inconvenience to the commuters only,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said that Gurugram has more than 18,000 autos, “which is quite a big number from security point of view”. “All the auto drivers will be issued identification cards by the RTA after verification. They will have all the details of the auto drivers,” he said.
