The Ernakulam District Autorickshaw Drivers Trade Unions’ Coordination Committee signed an agreement with Kinetic Green Energy Power Solutions for engaging auto drivers from the city to run the firm’s e-autos along the Kochi metro’s feeder routes.
As per the agreement, the coordination committee will hire/rent autos from Kinetic Green which has agreed to spare 20 autos on hire for the pilot project for an initial period of 90 days. The agreement will be reviewed and extended based on mutual terms and conditions. As per the agreement reached on Monday, auto drivers will have to pay ₹100, ₹150 and ₹200 per day to the firm for 30, 60 and 90 days respectively, says a release by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).
The committee has been assigned by the respective unions with the responsibility of aggregating auto rickshaw drivers in the Greater Kochi area. Drivers will be provided with branded and government-notified uniform, apart from name plate. The committee will also have to ensure that e-autorickshaws are used only as feeder services for the Kochi metro as specified by the firm, KMRL sources said.
Another 180 autos will be rolled out in the city based on passenger patronage for the first batch.
The coordination committee consists of six trade unions representing CITU, AITUC, INTUC,TUCI, STU and BMS. The committee’s chairman is K.K. Ibrahim Kutty (INTUC) and convener is Syamanthabhadran (CITU) .