Haryana govt to install meters in autos, fix rates

GURUGRAM: Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that fare meters would be installed in autorickshaws across the state. A proposal on this will be sent to the transport department which will decide fares and install meters in all autos in every district.
The chief minister was addressing the grievance committee meeting on Saturday when residents raised complaints about public transport in Gurugram and said that the government needed to pay immediate attention to it. They alleged that auto drivers were used to overcharging commuters and had made it a norm in the city. In response, Khattar assured them that meters would be installed in all autos, not only in Gurugram, but across Haryana and commuters would then have to pay the prescribed fares only.

When Bharti Arora was DCP(traffic), the RTA officials had drafted a fare policy and sent it to Chandigarh for approval. The suggested base fare for the first two kms was Rs 20, and for each subsequent kilometre, Rs 7. However, as of date, the government has not taken a decision on the fares, according to RK Singh, RTA secretary, Gurugram. Though the auto unions had fixed Rs 40 as the base fare a few years ago, even that is not followed by auto drivers and overcharging is a major concern among commuters.

The traffic police’s prepaid auto booths also charge commuters according to the destination and not by kilometres. “Every registered autorickshaw in the state should have a fare meter at the earliest. A proposal should be sent to the transport department to decide upon the fare per kilometre, according to the demographics of each district, so that commuters no longer face any discomfort in this regard,” said Khattar on Saturday.

Mahabir Singh, president, Haryana Auto Chalak Sangathan, said, “As long as the fares are reasonable for auto drivers and they are able to earn some profit, we have no objection to this. The base fare should be at least Rs 40 and for every additional kilometre, it should be at least Rs 9. The government should also keep in mind that CNG costs more in Gurugram than Delhi. Plus, the capital is vast while we ply within 9 kms in Gurugram.”

The chief minister has also issued strict instructions to curb violations of the motor-vehicle Act by auto drivers. He has asked authorities to check passenger overloading in autos. As per norms, an auto can have upto four passengers. However, up to 10-12 passengers can be seen travelling in diesel autos in the city while up to five passengers are often accommodated in CNG autos. Moreover, CNG autos ferry passengers on sharing basis from metro stations such as Sikanderpur towards Cyber City and Udyog Vihar and make a number of stops, which is not allowed. There are nearly 30,025 registered CNG and shared diesel autos in Gurugram. However, according to an estimate, there are 5,000 unregistered autos which also ferry passengers in the district. In the past one year, Gurugram traffic police has impounded 2,577 autos. “Any auto that has not been registered with RTA or is being driven by an underage driver is to be immediately impounded,” the CM told traffic police.