Write to RTO if taxis, autos turn you down …..Somit Sen I TNN
Mumbai: Many a citizen has had to face a stern autorickshaw or a taxi driver who, even when available, refuses to ply. Though the traffic police had started a campaign recently to stop the menace, the problem has become more rampant of late.
A senior traffic cop admitted that the problem was widespread, but expressed his department’s helplessness in controlling the situation. “We do not have adequate manpower to tackle this issue,’’ he said. The traffic police has 2,600 officers and policemen in Mumbai as against 1 lakh autos and 1.5 lakh taxis in the city.
Officials at the regional transport office (RTO) said they, too, were short staffed, with only 75 officers and inspectors for Mumbai. As a result, auto and taxi drivers were having a field day—picking up passengers according to their own whims, an officer said.
For Mumbaikars, autos or taxis refusing to ply is a frustrating experience. Be it waiting for an auto with heavy baggage outside malls, or trying to catch a taxi/auto for college during exams, or waiting for a taxi to rush a patient to hospital or just needing an auto to go to the airport. Sometimes, people are turned down by at least four or five autos or taxis before some driver obliges.
An assistant RT officer said the public outcry was justified. “It is frustrating not to get public transport when the law states that no auto or taxi driver can refuse to ply,’’ he said. Section 22 (d) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, states, “No driver shall, without reasonable excuse, refuse to let his vehicle for hire when the flag (of the meter) is in vertical position (for hire).’’
Violation of this rule can invite punishment for the cabbie/auto driver which can range from a fine of Rs 500 to suspension of licence and cancellation of permit, the officer said.
He added that citizens had the right to note down registration numbers of the vehicles and lodge a complaint with the RTO. “All you need to do is to buy a post card and write the registration number, type of vehicle, time, place, the driver’s offence (refusal to ply, rude behaviour, overcharging) and mention your name and address. Your name will be kept confidential. The RTO prosecution wing will summon the driver and punish him.’’ The post card can be addressed to Wadala RTO office, Wadala Truck Terminal Compound or Andheri RTO office, Four Bungalows (for autos and taxis) and to Tardeo RTO office (for taxis only).
In the past one year, the Mumbai RTO had received over 500 complaints and each complaint was dealt with seriously, the officer said. Another RTO officer, however, said the number of cases could be higher and that there was a need to increase awareness of the rules.
GETTING AWAY WITH IGNORANCE
GETTING AWAY WITH IGNORANCE
Many drivers whom TOI spoke to said they did not know the basic rules, especially section 22 (d) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
An autorickshaw driver from Kurla said, “We can easily get a licence with the help of agents. Not many of us know about sections under Motor Vehicle Act or the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules and their implications. We get to know about the rules only after we are fined or our licences suspended,’’ he said. If a driver was attached to an union, it was easy to avoid getting licence suspended, he added. “The union backs us and we can get away by paying only the fine,’’ he stated.
Another auto driver said the reason for refusing to ply could sometimes be genuine. “Most of us run autos on rent and we have to return the vehicle to the owner, which is when we do not take passengers.’’ Asked about refusing passengers at a stand, he said, “We do it occasionally to avoid short distances. If we start taking all passengers, we will not be able to earn enough.’’