CNG auto commuters in Thane pay less as Regional Transport Office there does not ask them to bear burden of increased petrol prices, but city has standard tariff card for both autorickshaw versions
CNG auto commuters in Thane pay less as Regional Transport Office there does not ask them to bear burden of increased petrol prices, but city has standard tariff card for both autorickshaw versions
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| Not fare: Though only 11,000 autorickshaws plying in the city are fitted with the CNG kit, all the 46,000 three-wheelers charge the increased tariff based on hiked petrol prices. representation pic |
Autorickshaw commuters in Thane, Kalyan and Dombivali are lucky, at least luckier than their counterparts in the city. The Thane Regional Transport Office (RTO) does not ask commuters travelling by CNG-fitted rickshaws to bear the cost of increased petrol prices. It has issued two separate tariff cards for autos running on CNG and petrol.
On the other hand, though 11,000 rickshaws plying in the city have already been fitted with CNG kit, all the 46,000 three-wheelers charge the increased tariff.
The rickshaw federations justify this move saying that owing to just one CNG pump in the city, rickshaw drivers end up spending four to five hours a day to fill gas. They say they get only half the time for business as compared to rickshaws running on petrol and so they are justified in charging the same as petrol rickshaws.
Regional Transport Officer Chandrakant Kharatmal said his office was not issuing separate tariff card for autos running on CNG because it wanted to encourage more rickshaws to convert to CNG.u00a0 "The CNG kit comes at a price, and we feel our decision will help rickshaw drivers recover the cost of conversion. Once all rickshaws are converted to CNG, this issue can be addressed," he said.
Bapu Bhave of Poona City Auto Rickshaw Federation said, "Issuing separate tariff cards is not justifiable. CNG rickshaw drivers have to spend four to five hours in the queue, as there is only one CNG pump within city limits.
So, we get only five to six hours a day to ferry passengers unlike 12 hours of business that rickshaws running on petrol get."
Few CNG pumps Ali Daruwala, president of Western India Petrol Dealers Association, agreed that considering the difference in petrol and CNG price there should be two separate tariff cards for commuters. But he said the infrastructure available for CNG pumps was not enough in the city.
"At least 10 petrol pump owners including four Bharat Petroleum pumps in the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad area have applied for CNG pumps, but unlike in Gujarat and Mumbai, pump owners have to procure too many non-objection certificates (NOC) from the Pune Muncipal Corporation," Daruwala said. "Apart from NOCs from various departments ensuring safety and security measures, local elected members come up with absurd demands that creates a major hurdle in fulfilling the demand for more CNG pumps in the city."
