No meter fare
Haggling over fare at autorickshaw stands in the city continues as a fixed meter rate is yet to be announced.The Coimbatore District All-Autorickshaw Unions’ Federation is upset that there is very little progress in efforts to implement a meter fare that is viable for the drivers in the district. But, transport authorities say that a committee headed by the District Revenue Officer will be formed in a week and things will start moving towards introducing a meter fare.The federation has demanded Rs.20 as the minimum fare for the initial one-and-a-half km and Rs.10 for every subsequent km. It has rejected the Rs.14 for the initial two km fixed by the State Government, saying it will not be viable for the drivers. It says the Government-fixed fare does not even match the fuel expenses. As many as 38 fuel price increases had been made since 1996, but the meter fare had remained at Rs.7, till the new fare was announced in January this year.The move to form the committee was announced on September 1 after the self-immolation by an autorickshaw driver on August 31, allegedly in protest against the enforcement of the Rs.14 fare.
More than 7,000 autorickshaws were off the roads the next day as the drivers went on a strike.Transport Minister K.N. Nehru, who rushed to the city on September 1 to deal with the situation, announced that the committee would study the demand of the drivers’ unions for Rs.20 as the minimum fare.“This delay in forming the committee is dangerous. The concept of meter fare will go off the minds of the drivers. All sections concerned should be reminded often of the meter fare and it must be fixed soon,” says federation president P.K. Sukumaran. He wonders why there should be a delay in announcing the fare when almost 80 per cent of the drivers are keen on having it. “This is the right time to implement it. Or else, this keenness may be lost because of the delay,” he warns.
Sources in the unions admit there are complaints of fleecing by many drivers who take advantage of this fluid situation. The delay in fixing the fare has given room for this, they allege. Transport Department officials point out that the fleecing has been on for years because the drivers have never accepted the meter fare at all. They’ll justify their need for more money even if a new fare is fixed, says an official.Mr. Sukumaran says that autorickshaws in Chennai also do not go by the meter fare, even after it was revised to Rs.14 early this year. “Enforcement has failed because of the low fare. When the Government’s efforts so far have failed, we suspect that it may be planning a law to enforce meter fare in autorickshaws and taxis,” he says. The federation president also suspects that the administration in Coimbatore finds the issue too hot to handle, especially after the self-immolation, and therefore the delay in the committee holding discussions.
“More than three months have elapsed since the announcement of the committee. We only got to learn from reports in the media that it is being formed. But, we do not when it will begin to meet and discuss the fare issue,” he says. The federation has collected Rs.3.5 lakh for the family of Kannan, the driver who set himself ablaze and died. Of this, an insurance policy each for his two sons has been taken for a little more than Rs.3 lakh. His father will be given Rs.20,000, Mr. Sukumaran says.
