Hyderabad: It is not the tapping of the meter but the honking of the horn or frequent use of indicators that increases your auto fare, according to a personnel in the legal metrology department.
In the last four months, they have booked 260 cases against auto rickshaw drivers for tampering with meters and overcharging. Around Rs 3 lakh has been collected in fines.
This new method of extorting money may ex-plain the increasing levels of noise in the city; greater noise pollution may not be due to heavier vehicular traffic, but due to the excessive honking by autos.
The new modus operandi, the authorities explain, is to attach an extra capacitor somewhere in the auto where it can be tapped or stimulated often. “An auto has a capacitor in the meter which is well sealed with eight seals from the department. However, auto-drivers may take an extra wire and attach it to another capacitor which is placed in the horn or in the indicator or lights, so that they can use it often and increase the fare,” explains Vijay Sarathy, district inspector of Hyderabad.
The meter’s capacitor in such cases will not show an apparent default, so it’s only by checking for another capacitor that the culprit can be caught.
Despite the recent crackdown, many autos meters are still rigged. There are over 1 lakh autorickshaws in the city and only eight inspectors and two checking centres, at Singireddy and Attapur. These two centres get about 200-500 autos regularly. The metres are checked and recalibrated and certificates renewed annually.
Since the authorities are of little use, citizens must be vigilant. The charge for a distance of initial 1.6 km is Rs 20. Additional distance travelled is charged at '11 per kilometre. However, it is common for auto drivers to demand an extra '10, or to not switch on the meter at all.
