Andheri RTO’s four-month drive fails to rein in meter tamperers

Data from the regional transport offices’ (RTOs) recent crackdown against errant autorickshaw and taxi drivers has thrown up a curious fact: even though the Andheri RTO booked more drivers for tampering their meters than the Wadala RTO for the same offence from September till mid-December, the proportion by which drivers tinkered with their meters came down substantially in the eastern suburbs but remained largely similar in the western suburbs.

So, have the officials from the Andheri RTO failed to bring down the extent of tampering in spite of their well-publicised drives in the last four months?

Bharat Kalaskar, deputy RTO, Andheri, said, “A total of 98 auto drivers were caught with tampered meters this time. In September alone, 217 drivers were caught for tampering. We got the meters tested to clear any doubt over the extent of tampering.”

Some of the meters tested showed a 200% increase from the actual reading. A majority of them were rigged in such a way so as to jack up rates during the waiting time at signals. Bottom-line: Andheri RTO officials’ drive has failed to deter offenders.

The eastern suburbs have begun to turn the tide, though.
TP Chavan, assistant RTO, Wadala, said, “In December, we found that the tampering showed a reading of only 10%-12% more than the actual. In September, the meter readings were found to be inflated by as much as 30%-40% of the actual fares.” During the raids in September, there were only 15 drivers booked for meter-tampering as against the 110-odd booked this time around.