Complaints against unruly behaviour by autorickshaw drivers peak during weekends and holidays, officers at the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) at Ashoknagar police station disclosed.
Complaints against unruly behaviour by autorickshaw drivers peak during weekends and holidays, officers at the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) at Ashoknagar police station disclosed.
The TMC receives, on an average, about 40 calls daily, complaining about unruly auto drivers. “But during weekends, functions, holidays, and big events like cricket matches and air shows, there is a drastic increase in the number of complaints from passengers,” said sub-inspector Vasanth Bagawath.
“Most calls we receive pertain to drivers refusing to go to the said destination, demanding higher fare, and tampering with meters. The complaint and the caller’s phone number are recorded by the server. Based on the details provided by the complainant, we fine the auto driver. We also follow up with the complainant to seek more information on the auto driver and the complaint. If the complainant wants to register a case against the auto driver, we guide them to the jurisdictional police station,” Bagawath said.
In cases of meter tampering, the TMC passes on the autorickshaw number and other details to the Controller of Legal Metrology (Weights & Measures) who initiates action against the drivers concerned.
Complaint
“In case of any harassment from any autodriver, the passengers can simply call the helpline. The officer at the TMC enters the details of the auto driver as provided by the passenger. A challan is sent to the vehicle owner’s address specifying the fine amount,” Bagawath said and added that a minimum Rs100 fine will be levied on errant auto drivers for every complaint.
Bagawath said that often, the complainant fails to give the correct number of the autorickshaw, making it difficult to fine the drivers.
When the complainant calls from any public phone booth and if no proper details are provided regarding the autorickshaws, the police will not be able to contact the complainant. Ulsoor Gate traffic police inspector Prabhakar Bairee said that the traffic police had installed boards giving details of helpline numbers near autorickshaw stands, bus stops and other places where the public movement was more.
“But we have noticed that the board has been removed by a few autodrivers to stop the public from calling the numbers,” he said.
Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union (ADU) general secretary BV Raghavendra said that auto drivers who misbehave with the passengers should be punished.
“Our union conducts monthly meetings with our members and instruct them on how to behave with passengers and not to violate the traffic rules. Till date no complaint has been received against our members. But if any auto driver misbehaves, then the traffic police must definitely fine them,” he said and added that as far as the removal of the helpline boards was concerned, no auto driver had removed them and the police allegation was baseless.
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