Responding to home minister’s orders, taxi and autorickshaw drivers say they can refuse passengers after their day ends.
A day after home minister RR Patil issued orders to taxi and auto drivers of the city asking them not to refuse passengers and overcharge them, the drivers complain that their side of the story has been ignored.
“Everyone blames us for arbitrarily rejecting passengers and behaving rudely with them. But no one wonders why we do it,” says Vyas Pandey, a taxi driver who runs his taxi in the Western suburbs.
“I stay in Nalasopara, travel to Worli, take the train from the owner of the taxi, and begin my shift around 7am. My day ends at 4pm. Should I be blamed if I refuse passengers after my shift is over?” he asks.
Auto driver Sharad More from Kurla concurs. “People expect us to serve them day and night. Why should we? I begin my shift at 7am and end it at 2pm.”
When asked if the commuters’ complaints were baseless, most drivers DNA spoke to acknowledged that the complaints are correct. However, they claimed it was only a small section of the community that deserves to take the blame.
Sangappa Bhagvan Sargar, an auto driver who drives in Chembur and other northern suburbs, said some drivers do overcharge passengers by tampering with the meter.
“I agree that many drivers do tamper with their meters and arbitrary refuse passengers. But the administration is unable to penalise the wrongdoers. In fact, innocents get framed. I was falsely charged by RTO officials for rejecting a passenger while I was driving back home.”
Taximan Rakib Ahmad from Dadar is on the same page as Sargar on this issue. He adds further, “We should be allowed breaks for lunch and rest during our shifts.”
Anthony Quadros of the Mumbai Taximen’s Union claimed 90% of the cases booked by the police are fake ones. “The traffic police have to meet their targets, so they book drivers in false cases.”
He also said union members would be sent a circular of instructions regarding the instructions given by the home minister by Wednesday.
A traffic constable said: “If the drivers have ended their shifts and are going home, they should not take passengers at all. But they do it. Why then should the traffic police be blamed if we book them [for refusing passengers]?”
Meanwhile, it was just another day for the besieged commuters of the city. Yogesh Naik, a resident of Chembur, said: “Five auto drivers rejected my requests to drive me to the railway station.”
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