They come across as the stormy petrels swarming the City roads. Virtually every Bangalorean has an endless list of complaints against them. Yet there is no alternative to the rickety autorickshaws and their irascible drivers, if one has to negotiate the City’s narrow and congested roads and mile-long snarls.

Yes, those who matter in the City have finally decided to go pro-active in dealing with the City’s community of autorickshaw drivers. The City police plan to call for a meeting of the City’s 30,000 autorickshaw drivers affiliated to various Unions to bring in some sort of decorum, discipline and polished behaviour in autorickshaw drivers’ community. This is being considered in view of complaints from passengers about autorickshaw drivers’ abrasive
behaviour.

The new initiative hopes to enroll the unions in ensuring that their members are trained in road discipline and are considerate towards passengers and do not resort to tampering with their meters to extort excess money.

The officer concedes that the burgeoning vehicular population, congested thoroughfares, shortage of police personnel and the fear of backlash from autorickshaw drivers by way of strikes, gheraos and roadblocks often prevent the police from coming down heavily on these drivers.

“It would be a greater problem for the police to deal with auto drivers if they strike and create road blocks which is almost a routine with them,” he says.

There are close to 90,000 autorickshaws plying in the City and only 30,000 auto drivers belong to auto unions the rest don’t belong to any union. They don’t even want to associate themselves with any union or even operate in a disciplined manner, says M Manjunatha, the president of Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers Union.

“They refuse to be part of a union. We have tried to initiate awareness programmes on traffic, road discipline and behaviour toward passengers but looks like our efforts have gone in vain,” he explains.

The tendency among the drivers towards crude behaviour and violating law repeatedly with impunity will come down sonly if the police jail the offenders, suspend licences and stop issuing of permits for new autos, he strongly feels.

Additional Commissioner of Police and Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety K C Ramamurthy agrees that the police have to take up the cause of disciplining the City auto drivers on a war footing.

“We will soon take up moral policing and conduct training sessions on traffic and road discipline for autorickshaw drivers on a regular basis.

The legal services authority has also taken up the matter of educating the drivers and inculcate in them a certain amount of accountability and responsibility for their action,” Mr Ramamurthy says and adds, “the police are contemplating increasing the existing fine for various offences by three or four times.

If any bad behaviour from autorickshaw drivers are brought to the police’s notice we will ensure that the offender is caught and put behind bars for at least half a day,” he assures.

Another top police officer feels that routine enforcement being done by the police is not enough to make the auto drivers more accountable both in terms of their conduct with the passengers and on the road.

“We will have to keep a tab on regular offenders. We will soon start collecting details of all sorts of offenses and book the guilty for a huge fine amount running into thousands of rupees. If this is done it will not only be difficult for them to contest it in court but will instil the fear of god in them,” says this officer.

“An alternative mode of transport is the best way to get the abrasive autorickshaw drivers off the streets. They feel they can get away with anything because they have no competition and have a virtual monopoly in their sector. Once they have competition they will automatically calm down,” he says.

Cancellation of licences of regular offenders and regulation in the issuing permits and licences to new autorickshaws should put a stop to the proliferation of autorickshaws in the City.