Vashi RTO cracks whip on auto rickshaw drivers

Transport officials conduct month-long drive, impose fine on those who haven’t recalibrated their meters

It has proved to be an expensive affair for auto rickshaw drivers of Navi Mumbai, who failed to recalibrate the meters of their three-wheelers on time. They had to pay a hefty sum of Rs 700 as part of a month-long drive conducted by transport officials of Vashi Regional Transport Office (RTO).

According to RTO officials, last month out of 9,750 autos in the satellite town, over 1,850 autos were yet to recalibrate the meters.

The auto stand at Nerul station. Around 483 rickshaw drivers are yet to recalibrate their meters. Pic/Ankoor Anvekar

Taking a serious note of the situation, the department started imposing fine on the auto drivers, following which many of them recalibrated their e-meters. At present, only 483 auto rickshaws in the city are yet to recalibrate their meters.

It might be recalled that in August 2014, the Bombay High Court had revised the minimum fare of CNG-run autos to Rs 17 from Rs 15. Following the order, the Vashi RTO had issued a 45-day deadline, effective from August 12, wherein rickshaw drivers had to recalibrate their meters.

Sanjay Dhaygude, deputy regional transport officer at Vashi RTO, said, “Many rickshaw drivers had missed the original deadline of October 1 so we decided to intensify our checking drives. In a month-long drive conducted from October 4 to November 5 the department collected Rs 1.95 lakh as fine.”

Those who did not obey the new resolution were fined Rs 700 from the period of the end of deadline with a further fine of Rs 50 per day, until their meters are recalibrated.

Apart from keeping an eye on the meters, officials said that they would also check if drivers are carrying colour and laminated photo copy of the permit copy along with the driving licence.

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