Taximen seek release of payments for election services without delay

MANGALURU: Members of various taxi drivers' and owners’ associations have complained that they were made to run from pillar to post for the release of payment for taxi services provided during previous elections and other government programmes. They demanded that payment for all vehicles hired for the upcoming assembly elections should be released as soon as possible. Many say that it takes months to get payment from the government after elections.
The Dakshina Kannada Taxi Men's and Maxicab Association president Dinesh Kumpala affirmed to TOI that the association had submitted a memorandum in this regard to the authorities concerned. “Some of our members received payment nearly one year after the previous election. Further, the fixing of rates for different classes of vehicles is also not scientific and should be rectified by the government. They have fixed Rs 2,700 for cars and Rs 3,900 for minibuses per day, which is insufficient for fuel. Moreover, the delay in payment release also affects taximen,” he said.
The association has urged the district administration to sanction Rs 6,000 per day for minibuses, Rs 4,000 for multipurpose vehicles like Innova and Rs 3,500 per day for other cars, he said. RTO of Mangaluru has been given responsibility for arranging vehicles for various election duties.
RTO John B Misquith said that the bills of private vehicles hired for election duty are cleared by the district administration as per Election Commission’s guidelines.
“We will get appropriate information regarding the total number of vehicles, including private vehicles, required for election duty at least 10 days prior to the election. We have already arranged some vehicles and more will be provided based on the requirement. The district administration will decide the number and classes of vehicles required for election work and we will arrange vehicles. Payments for private vehicles are settled through the district administration as per the Election Commission’s guidelines,” he said.