Hundreds of rickshaws, kaali-peelis forced to stay off roads and wait in queues to get their electronic meters and vehicle papers checked by RTO; people complain of added inconvenience
Auto drivers wait at Express Highway Service Road outside Godrej company in Vikhroli for checking of meters and vehicle papers by the RTO. Pic/Sameer Markande
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As if autorickshaw and taxi drivers wantonly refusing to ply wasn’t bad enough, now, there’s another reason they are off roads or might not take you where you want to go. For the past few days, they have spent their time waiting in long queues to get their electronic meters checked and cleared.
Queue up!
It has been two to three days now that both autorickshaw and taxi drivers are being seen queuing up at certain locations in the city. While autorickshaw queues are in Vikhroli on the Eastern Express Highway, the taxis are doing the same at Wadala near Bhakti Park.
The unions have claimed that nothing less than 25 per cent of autorickshaws and taxis have had to remain off roads due to this inspection that is underway. People too have complained of fewer autorickshaws and taxis being available and several refusing to ply because of this.
Apart from the usual tension between people and drivers over fare refusal, quarrels and arguments were also seen between drivers and permit-holders over jumping of queues. Hundreds of autos and taxis have been standing in serpentine queues for which, sources in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) claimed, there have been tiffs among them, as they want the process to end soon.
Official speak
“I held meetings with autorickshaw drivers on September 27 to discuss the inspection. They complained about the waste of time and loss of business due to having to wait in queues for most of the day,” said Shashank Rao, president, Mumbai Autorickshaw and Taximen’s Union.
Leader of Mumbai Taximen’s Union AL Quadros said, “We found out about the chaos and, hence, asked RTOs to start a token system.”
RTOs begin checking at 9am and end at 2pm during which they can handle 200 vehicles.
Last year, the Legal Metrology Department checked e-meters, and as per its rules, these have to be re-inspected annually. But a few months back, the inspection procedure was transferred back to the transport department, and as per the Motor Vehicles rules, the inspection needs to take place every two years.
These autorickshaws and taxis are likely to be in queues for at least a month now considering their numbers —36,000 black-and-yellow taxis and 1.04 lakh autorickshaws registered in Mumbai.
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