Fool-proof auto display boards only fool people

Fool-proof auto display boards only fool people
Vijay Times

Bangalore: The autorickshaw display board system, providing details such as the drivers name, address, licence number etc., was introduced with much fanfare by the police department to ensure a fool-proof system. However, it is succeeding in making fools of passengers and i simply not as fool-proof as it ought to be.

Saritha A Rao, an NRI, flew in from Australia to Mumbai along with her daughter. Looking forward to meet her relatives in the City, she took a train to Bangalore on June 2. Disembarking at the City railway station, she engaged an auto with a prepaid autofare receipt for Rs 60. The driver, without a uniform, kept their belongings on the rear seat except a bag containing her daughters clothes, which he kept near his seat in front.

On reaching the destination, the driver downloaded all the bags. Before Saritha realised, he had made away with the one kept near his seat. Luckily, or so she thought, she had noted all details about the driver furnished on the display board.

She immediately lodged a complaint with the Rajajinagar police. Armed with the name C Venkatesh and the driving licence number, 13361/95-96, police located the address to Industrial Town, Rajajinagar. Bulls eye! Patting themselves on the back, they thought they had their man. All hopes dashed when it was found the address was false. Moreover, according t Rajajinagar RTO, the driving licence number belonged to D Veerapandiayan residing at Prakashnagar.

Result? More than two weeks later, the driver and the bag are yet to be traced.

On June 14, Y S Selvakumar, a design engineer at Mitshibushi Industries in Japan, lost 4 lakh Yen (approximately Rs1.6 lakh), Rs 48,000 in Indian currency, a passport and two credit cards.

Selvakumar and his family members hired an auto to go to a furniture shop in RT Nagar. After getting down, they realised they had forgotten the bag with the amount kept behind the seat. Selvakumar immediately lodged a complaint with the RT Nagar police. Unfortunately, he could not note the details on the display board as it was late evening.

When drivers details cannot get you lost items, it is wishful thinking to believe it is pos sible without the details. Result? The police are yet to make any headway in investigations.

Somashekar, president of Bangalore Auto and Taxi Drivers Association, said the display system enforced by the police department for autorickshaws has many loopholes.

"In the beginning, drivers photos were scanned by the department personnel. Later, they gave it up due to some confusion, but ended up having more. The police number on the card cannot be noted by commuters as the fonts are difficult to read," he said.

"If a serial number is provided after verification of records and printed in big letters, along with a phone number to be contacted in emergency, it would help commuters." Hitting the ball back in the authorities court, he alleged the police insist upon seeing the card and impose fines to the tune of Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 on drivers if it is not furnished. "This is justified," he said.