Commuters said that auto drivers not only harass them, but also over-charge, as most autos don’t run by meter.
Despite the Delhi government’s announcement of auto fare hike in the capital city, commuters have alleged that over-charging by auto drivers still continues, as most auto drivers don’t run by the meter.
Arpan Baruah, a student of South Delhi’s Chanakya Academy, said that auto drivers hardly use meters and fix a fare for a certain distance which is more than the government fixed rates.
“If the government is hiking the fare, it should also give importance to making use of the meter compulsory. Otherwise, we will have to pay more than the fixed rates,’’ he added.
On Wednesday, the Delhi government issued a notification to the transport authority to issue notice to inform the public about the revised auto-rickshaw fares in the national capital. As per the revised rates, auto-rickshaw fare in the city have been increased by 18.75%. Under the revised rates, commuters will have to pay a base fare of Rs 25 for the first 1.5 km, instead the existing rate of Rs 25 for initial 2 km. Against the existing rate of Rs 8 for every additional kilometre, the revised rate will be Rs 9.5 per kilometre. Scraping the earlier 15 minutes minimum waiting period charge, now auto drivers can charge Rs 0.75 per minute. However, the night charge and the luggage charge have been kept the same.
Mrinalini Rana, a resident of east Delhi’s Patpadganj, told The Sunday Guardian: “Auto-rikshaw drivers don’t seem to be there to provide services to the common people. They have already harassed the public by charging unreasonably high fares; now this hike in fares is like double whammy for us. Already, they don’t run by meter and make excuses not to take us in. The public will be the only sufferers.”
Mitali Kaushik, another commuter of North Delhi, said, “I had fought with many auto drivers as they refused to run by meter. If you go by meter, the fare from Viswabidyalai to Vidhan Sabha is hardly Rs 30. But they charge around Rs 50. They know our necessity, so they charge what they want.”
While some Delhiites said that a check on CNG prices can be useful to both the public and auto drivers, others said that without government regulation, this hike will be of no meaning.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Mahesh (60), who came to Connaught Place for shopping, said, “Like every employee gets an yearly increment, the fare hike is a justice to auto-drivers. After all, they are getting it after six long years.’’
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Rajendra Soni, general secretary of Delhi Auto-rickshaw Sangh, said, “We want the Arvind Kejriwal government to implement it. In their
notification, they have said that it will be implemented from soon. But it has not happened yet. We can believe it only when it is implemented, because since election they have been
saying the same thing. It has been six years since 2013 that fares have been revised.’’ He also alleged that even prepaid booths, too, have not received any notification. “Our only demand is to implement it as soon as possible. I don’t think that this time, too, it will be implemented on the ground,’’ he added.
Many auto-rickshaw drivers in Connaught Place, too, are sceptical about the announcement. “This is nothing but a electoral lollipop,” said Ajhar Alam, an auto driver this reporter met in Connaught Place. “So far, they have
announced only; it is yet to be implemented. It has been six years since fares were hiked. Everything, including price of CNG, has increased four times, but our fares are still the same,’’ he added.
Another auto driver Pramod kumar said, “The people in government have no policy for people like us. They have not done anything for us. So, we are disappointed. Whenever there is a hike in CNG, our rates too must be revised.’’
There are others who think this move will ultimately
benefit Ola and Uber as there will be less fare gap between these cab services and autos. Dinesh Chand, an auto driver from Central Delhi’s Paharganj, said: “These cabs have AC, so people will obviously prefer them over us as there will be a slight difference of fare.’’