Pre-paid service: Auto drivers fail to fall in line

Pre-paid service: Auto drivers fail to fall in line
Deccan Herald

Even as the newly-opened pre-paid auto stands at M G Road and Dickenson Road are struggling to lure autos to their counter, the one outside Cantonment Railway Station seems to have already accepted defeat.

Even as the newly-opened pre-paid auto stands at M G Road and Dickenson Road are struggling to lure autos to their counter, the one outside Cantonment Railway Station seems to have already accepted defeat. For many commuters, a tiring train journey is followed by haggling with the auto-drivers, who stand right outside the counter but refuse to go in accordance with the system.

Chandru, a frequent commuter from Chickpet, complained that the staff at the pre-paid counter is powerless against the autocratic auto drivers. “The autos do not park on the pre-paid line, and insist on using the meter, which is often faulty. I have to fight with the driver to take me home without charging extra,” Chandru said.

Even Lavanya Raman, from Chennai, has several complaints regarding the inefficiency of the counters. “As I am an outsider, I don’t know the distance and the auto charge to my destination. I have been cheated on both my visits to Bangalore. I would prefer taking an auto from a pre-paid counter, but they are not available,” Lavanya rued.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) M A Saleem, “We have noticed that these prepaid counters have failed to provide proper service to customers, resulting in harassment by auto-drivers.

But the Bangalore Traffic Police have little control over them,” he said.

However, he revealed that the traffic police is planning to raise this issue with the Railway Police, and take over if necessary. “The harassment can be curbed only by the Traffic Police. If we take over, then the Railway Police could also save on the commission they pay to the private parties,” he said.

“The Traffic Police also has the right to prosecute the erring driver,” he added.

However, Superintendent of Police (Railways) K H Sreenivasa, believed that the prepaid counter is working successfully, recording 1,000 bookings a day, and they will “never agree to the Traffic Police’s proposal”. “We have not received a single complaint against auto-drivers. The commitment of the Traffic Police is short-lived, so we do not want to transfer it to them. We are running the counter successfully,” Sreenivasa said.