Hyderabad: Auto drivers run riot as police end campaign

Hyderabad: Auto rickshaw drivers are charging exorbitant fares from passengers and refuse to follow the digital metre system.

As per the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act, auto rickshaws must use the metres and should not deny any passenger a ride. We can take action on complaints, said a regional transport officer from Hyderabad. 

M. Vinod Kanumula of the Indian Federation of Road Safety said, “The government introduced digital meters for auto rickshaws in 2007 to prevent tampering. Special drives were held to force auto drivers to comply with the order. However,  enforcement drives have come down since one year, leaving  passengers at the mercy of auto drivers.”

A.V. Ranganath, DCP of Hyderabad traffic, said, “We keep checking and follow the complaints on overcharging. We are conducting a special drive to curb this issue along with RTI officials.” Inaction by the legal metrology department is also encouraging auto drivers to quote the charges the way they like.

The traffic and transport departments too are responsible to discipline auto drivers. Sharing his plight, Nithin Raj, a private sector employee from Secunderabad, said, “I was travelling with my wife in a seven-seater auto in Lingampally a few weeks back. When the driver tried to fill in more passengers beyond the seating capacity, we refused and he abused us.”

Social media is flooded with complaints from city passengers. One such post read, “I wanted to go from erramanzil to LV Prasad eye hospital and hired an auto and told him to go according to the meter, for which he rejected. As a regular traveller of that route, I knew it would cost Rs 40 according to meter reading. He agreed to come for Rs 40. After reaching the destination, I gave him Rs 50 and he rejected to give the change back and simply left (sic).”