Working auto metres a first for city�s youth
Posted on: 29/Jul/2013 11:48:04 AM
Residents of Chennai are eagerly awaiting the implementation of the Supreme Court order to install working metres in auto rickshaws. The youth in the city do not know a time when metres were even used!
When as ked why this practice came into being, a former Transport Department official said, �Until the 1990s, most vehicles were owned by policemen or politicians. Later on, the permits were held by private financiers, who had total control over the functioning of auto rickshaws. Even now, though permits were recently issued by the State government, many owners are forced to go to pawn brokers as banks require surety before giving loans.�
�The CITU (has) been in the forefront of demanding Rs. 30 as minimum charge and Rs. 15 for every additional kilometre. We have formed the Mohammed Amin Autorickshaw Industrial Cooperative society for providing loans to auto rickshaw drivers. Once it is fully operational, drivers will not have to pay substantial rates of interest to private money lenders. The new tariff can provide sufficient income to pay their loans and meet their household needs too� The autorickshaw unions have also asked the government to fix meters with GPS facility� The movement of vehicles can be monitored. This way, drivers will not tamper with meters and the passenger will also have a sense of security�, said S.Appanu, South Madras District Secretary of CITU Autorickshaw and Taxi Drivers� Union.
