The Thiruvananthapuram city police will take stringent action, including recommending suspension of licence permits of auto drivers who fleece passengers and refuse to undertake trips, District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram city) S. Surendran has said.
He said auto-rickshaws would come under a tight monitoring system in the city. Special teams of non-uniformed shadow police personnel will be deployed to pose as passengers in order to detect malpractices. Besides, the traffic police and patrolling parties have also been issued directions to intensify surveillance, according to a statement.
The police will take action against malpractices, including running trips without turning the metres on, misbehaving with passengers, charging unreasonable fares and refusing to run short-distance trips. Stringent steps will also be taken against illegal practice of charging double the normal rates during night-time travel. Mr. Surendran said numerous complaints raised by the public prompted the launch of the drive against erring autorickshaw drivers.