Hyderabad: Auto-rickshaw owners, who are looking to get new autos by replacing the old as per the government rules imposed in 2012, are being exploited by middlemen and RTA agents.
As pollution in the city increased with the mounting number of auto-rickshaws, the government banned permits of new auto-rickshaws. Only the existing 65,486 vehicles would be allowed to ply.
The government then directed the transport department to allow the auto-rickshaw owners to buy new vehicles and condemn the old ones to scrap.
During the process, the auto-rickshaw owners were told to bring the old vehicles to the RTA office and condemn them to scrap in the presence of a Motor Vehicle Inspector rank official. The process was needed to consign the spare parts to scrap. Once the process is completed, the MVI will issue a certificate and based on the certificate, showroom owners would release the new auto-rickshaw to the owner.
As per the records available with the transport department, an auto-rickshaw consists of about 360 kg of weight, of which 250 kg are spares made up of iron and steel and 13 kg of aluminium. At present the market value of scrap of iron is Rs 18 per kg and aluminium is Rs 90 per kg, which means, the cost of the scrap from the old auto is worth at least Rs 4,420.
But the middlemen/RTA agents assisting the auto-rickshaw driver get the scrap by paying only Rs 2,000.
Sharan Mohan Lal, an auto driver from Old City, said that he replaced his auto-rickshaw (AP12U-8021) on May 3, 2017 at Bandlaguda RTA office. The middlemen paid him only Rs 2,000. When he asked for more as per the market value of scrap, the middlemen threatened him of consequences when he purchased his new auto-rickshaw.
President of Telangana Auto Union Mr. A. Sathi Reddy, Auto-rickshaw drivers’ JAC leaders B. Venkatesham and Mr. Ganapathi Rao said that they submitted a representation to RTA officials many times but there was no response and there was no control over the middlemen.
