Only half of Bengaluru's autos have ‘legal’ fare meters

The Department of Legal Metrology says it has approved digital fare meters for only 75,000 of the estimated 1.45 to 1.75 lakh auto-rickshaws operating in Bengaluru.

This would mean more than half of the autorickshaws in the city may be operating illegally.

The issue of regulating auto-rickshaws in the city has been fraught with administrative and legal problems with the Transport Department drawing fire from all sides.

Over the last four years, however, auto-rickshaw registrations have shot up with the drivers’ associations calling on the government to regulate their numbers.

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Officials in the Department of Legal Metrology, tasked with giving clearance to fare meters installed in auto-rickshaws, acknowledged the problem.

“Only 75,000 auto-rickshaws equipped with the digital fare meters have been registered here while getting approval from the department. Action can be taken against auto-rickshaws with fare meters not approved by us or those plying without the devices,” said Kumar M S, Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology (Technical) and in charge of managing auto-rickshaw fare meters.

He said the department had 15 inspectors in Bengaluru to enforce rules related to weights and measures in all sectors. “Though we are short-staffed, inspections were conducted routinely till the beginning of the pandemic last year and penalties have been imposed on auto-rickshaws flouting the rules,” he said.

C N Srinivas, general secretary of the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union, said the Regional Transport Office (RTO) must be blamed for the mess in the auto-rickshaw sector.

“On the one hand, the Transport Department has failed to regulate app-based taxis cutting into our business. On the other, it has not been able to regulate the number of auto-rickshaws plying in the city. It issued permits to 30,000 autos in 2019 with no assessment of the city’s demand and supply,” he said.

Officials cited the 2018 high court order which said the permit was not mandatory for registration of a new auto-rickshaw, as they acknowledged that thousands of auto-rickshaws are operating without permits.

C Sampath of Adarsh Auto Drivers’ Union said the disproportionate number of vehicles has led to a situation where multiple auto rickshaws wait for one passenger. “Bengaluru doesn’t need more than one lakh auto rickshaws. But there is nobody to put their foot down and regulate the numbers. The departments of transport, traffic police and legal metrology have spent all these years blaming each other. We hope they will wake up to the problem now,” he said.

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