No decision yet on fixing meters in Bangalore

A meeting will be held between autorickshaw drivers, repairers and manufacturers of auto meters, RTO officials, DCP (traffic) and  legal metrology department for fixing charges for meter recalibration on Monday. Both auto unions and meter manufacturers refused to compromise in a meeting held on Wednesday.

Auto drivers were given three months  to recalibrate meters after auto fares were revised in March. While the government is trying to ensure that meters are tamper-free, auto drivers have been protesting against charges levied by manufacturers for recalibration.

Drivers with manual meters too are resisting conversion to digital meters, demanding that meter recalibration be made mandatory only for new autos. An RTO official said: “Different manufacturers have different rates for recalibration. Auto drivers are demanding that one charge be fixed for recalibration across manufacturers and that the price be fixed within `100,” he said.

Manjunath of Adarsha Auto Union said: “Paying Rs250 for recalibration will not work out for us. We are asking them to fix charges at a little less than Rs100.” But meter manufacturers are unwilling to reduce charges. “Auto unions are asking us to recalibrate meters at Rs50. This is not done,” said Mohammad Asif of Perfect Manufacturers.