manoj

If you thought haggling with auto rickshaw drivers over the fare is annoying, try calling up the government-run help-line number for harassed commuters.

Chances are, you will end up even more frustrated. The number of pending complaints against errant auto drivers in the capital is more than the total number of autos currently plying on the roads.

According to official figures as on October 2006, there were 55,000 licensed autos plying in the city. Till then, there were as many as 71,141 complaints pending. The transport department, which runs the help-line number, revealed these figures in response to a Right to Information application filed by Anil Sood of NGO Chetna.

The transport department's revelation makes it clear that the average autowallah in the city fleeces you. From October 2002 until December 2006, the number of complaints lodged every year was consistently more than the number of autos in the city which meant multiple complaints against drivers.

Between April 2005 and February 2006 alone, the transport department received an unprecedented 1,12,971 complaints. During this period, every auto driver had at least two complaints against him.

In 2002, the department launched a help-line number with much fanfare. Commuters facing problems with auto drivers could lodge a complaint on 9604-400-400. This number was changed to 52-400-400 in 2005, and then to 42-400-400 recently.

"The most common complaints are overcharging, refusal to go to the desired destination and not going by meter," said a transport department official.

The main reason for the slow rate of action is that a chunk of the notices issued to erring drivers return undelivered to the transport department, as the addresses of several drivers are invalid. Apart from this, the department does not have records of about 17,000 autos plying on the city roads.

"There is complete inaction on the part of the authorities. About 65-70 per cent of the notices issued were returned undelivered and the prose- cution rate was less than 40 per cent," said Sood.

Sood had recently filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court against the auto business in the city In the PIL, he alleged that the state government has failed miserably in evolving an effective grievance system despite High Court directives.


In 1998, NGO Hum Aap Ke filed a writ petition in the High Court highlighting the problems caused by auto rickshaw and taxi drivers, like refusal to carry passengers, misbehaviour and overcharging, etc.

• May 2001, NGO Chetna files a writ petition highlighting the indiscriminate fleecing of commuters by auto and taxi drivers by tampering meters.
• In May 2001, the High Court constitutes a committee comprising of Chetna's Anil Sood and officials of State Transport Authority, Controller of Weights and Measures and traffic police to discuss the issue in detail and give suggestions.
• In December 2001, taking suo moto cognisance of media reports, the Supreme Court directs the state government to install electronic meters by February 2002.

In January 2002, the High Court passes a detailed order to ensure that

• Weights and Measures Department and traffic police conduct joint raids against errant drivers whose meters are found tampered with.
• Adequate steps are taken against those who violate the law and ensure the offence is not repeated.
• The traffic police check that auto and taxi drivers wear proper uniform.

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 16-Apr-07

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

IT'S OUT there, on the city's roads. A menace we all are touched by, but one that nobody seems to know how to sort out. It's a word that causes dread among commuters: autorickshaw.

The courts have intervened: there are Supreme Court and High Court orders to stop rampant autorickshaw violations, but commuters are still being taken for a ride.

The average autorickshaw driver refuses to go by the meter, fleeces people at will, goes only where he wants to, and misbehaves for good measure. For a vast majority of Delhi residents who do not own cars and do not want to sweat it out in rickety and crowded public buses, this is the only option.

It's not a very desirable option. Try telling a city resident your worst auto rickshaw experience and you will be told two in return.

To start with, most autowallahs refuse to take you to your destination. "If it's morning, they say they will not find any passengers at the place you want to go and ask more money for the empty return journey," said Prashant Kumar, who works for a multinational company.

"During afternoons, almost all autowallahs say they have to pick up school children and if it is evening or night, they will take you only if your des- tination is on their way home," Kumar summed it all up.

If an autowallah agrees to go, he will most certainly not go by the meter This is where the arguing and haggling begins. "Even after you agree to pay through your nose, the autowallah behaves as if he is doing you a favour," Kumar added.

"Their meters never work and whatever they ask for: is always jayaz (fair). I am simply sick and tired of fighting with them every day," said Nishita Banerjee, a Green Park resident who travels in an auto to her office in Connaught Place every weekday.

Banerjee has found a way out. "Now I have fixed an autowallah who picks and drops me everyday and takes Rs 50 for each trip. I am still paying more than the actual fare but at least I am saved from everyday squabbles," she said.

In 2002, electronic meters were made mandatory for autorickshaws, following Supreme Court orders. Subsequently, the fare of autorickshaws and taxis were also hiked.

The then state transport minister, Ajay Maken, decided to act tough and a vigorous drive to impound autos that were not using the new electronic meters began. We haven't got very far And it's not by the meter.

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 16-Apr-07

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

IF AN autorickshaw driver charges you by the meter, he is not fleecing you. Think again.

Meters in more than 50 per cent of autorickshaws inspected last year during special drives were found to be faulty. But try telling that to the drivers, and they say meters approved by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, most of them are substandard and their complaints are not attended to.

Their allegation is sure to annoy the Supreme Court and the High Court, which have repeatedly directed the Transport Department to ensure autorickshaw meters meet "quality norms."

In 2001, the Supreme Court directed the state government to install electronic meters by February 2002. In the same year, the High Court, too, directed the Transport Department, the Controller of Weights and Measures and the Traffic Police to conduct joint raids to detect tampered meters.

In separate raids last year, 4,902 autos were inspected, of which 2,561 were found using faulty meters. "It is a sizeable number The department carries out such drives regularly We found that autorickshaw drivers were in the habit of fleecing commuters on a daily basis by tampering with meters," said a Transport Department official.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry has approved a total of 21 firms to manufacture auto meters. Of these, at least eight companies hardly operate in Delhi anymore. Of the rest, most manufacture substandard meters, say auto drivers.

"Only about 3-4 companies are reliable, whose meters are priced at about Rs 3,500. The other manufacturers supply meters of inferior quality, which are available for anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800. Howevel: these meters break down easily and prove to be too expensive in the long run," said Som Nath, president, Taxi & Auto Drivers' Sangharsh Samiti.

To compound the problem, several complaints filed with the Controller of Weights and Measures are not sorted out, say auto drivers. "I had bought a meter that started to create problems within three months. After spending a considerable sum on its repail: I had to junk it," said an auto driver.


THE CHARTS THAT AREN'T

• All autorickshaw drivers are supposed to carry a fare chart but most do not.
• The chart was prepared by the Transport Department in 2001, indicating distances between prominent places in the city and - most importantly, carrying a simple formula to calculate fare.
• if a commuter feels the auto meter is not functioning properly, he/she could verify it with the chart.

AND A DRIVE THAT DIDN'T

A drive to ensure drivers carried the fare chart was rigorously enforced during 2001-02.

After that, officials overseeing the drive were transferred and people soon forgot about the chart.

Auto drivers then alleged the chart was incorrect. Distances between a few destinations were not accurate.


Help-line number : 4240-0400

If you lodge a complaint against an auto driver, a notice is issued against him and he has to appear before the metropolitan magistrate of his area. Depending on the offence, the driver can be fined anywhere between Rs 100 and 300. In some cases, the vehicle is also impounded.

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 17-Apr-07

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

The price of CNG has increased by 60 per cent since February 2002, fares remain static' goes argument

NO MATTER what you feel about the autorickshaw menace in the city, autowallahs have their own logic for fleecing you. Try explaining to an auto driver the value of honesty, and he will retort with loads of rationale behind overcharging you.

A steady rise in the prices of CNG, spare parts and lubricant oils, clubbed with a disproportionate increase in auto fares is a perfect recipe for disaster, say auto drivers.

"Since February 2002, the price of CNG has increased by about 60 per cent. However, there has not been any substantial increase in auto fares. This is the main reason why several auto drivers do not go by meter and overcharge customers," said Chandra Pal, an auto driver.

The transport department had revised auto fares in February 2002 in a major way. It was followed by a minor modification in 2003, when the fare was fixed at Rs 8 for the first kilometre and Rs. 3.5 for every subsequent kilometre.

In comparison, CNG was available at Rs 12.21 per kilogram in February 2002. The prices were raised to Rs 16.83 per kilogram within the next two months. Today, CNG is priced at Rs 19.20 per kilogram.

Auto drivers in the city have repeatedly requested the transport department to revise fares. Frustrated with the delay, about 5,000 auto drivers have now put up posters on their autorickshaws, highlighting their plight. One poster compares the salary of MLAs - which has doubled in the last few years - to the fixed auto fares.

On being contacted, transoort minister Haroon Yusuf said a final decision on revision of fares would be taken soon.

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 18-Apr-07

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

THE DELHI Traffic Police have turned the heat on autowallahs. In a special drive, the police have prosecuted 204 autorickshaw drivers and impounded 88 autorickshaws for overcharging, refusal, misbehaving or not going by the meter.

On Monday, the police started a concerted and special drive against erring autorickshaw drivers in selected areas like Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Karol Bagh, Kotwali, R.K. Puram and Connaught Place on Monday. The drive was carried out between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 204 autorickshaw drivers were prosecuted. The traffic police also impounded 88 autorickshaws and punched driving licenses of 46 drivers.

“We have taken up a special drive against autos because we have been receiving a lot of complaints against them,” said Qamar Ahmed, Joint Commissioner (Traffic).

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 24-Apr-07

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.