NO permits for call auto service

NO permits for call auto service
Vijay Times

The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has turned down the State Transport Authoritys (STA) recommendation to issue permits for starting the Call Auto facility in the City.

In a communication sent by the Transport Commissioners office to the RTA secretary on July 3, 2006, it was stated that a recommendation be made to the government to issue 100 permits of the remaining 1,274 permits, for the proposed facility.

Responding to this, the RTA secretary, in a letter dated Nov 4, turned down the request claiming there were no permits to spare and also that the remaining permits had been distributed to beneficiaries of the Self Employment Scheme for the year 2005-06.

Further, he stated that according to the State governments order, there is no provision to allot any permits for Call Auto facility in the City.

Reacting to this, Somashekar, president of Bangalore Auto and Taxi Drivers Associations, opined that if RTA had given permits to begin the facility in the City, it would have benefited many senior citizens and also unemployed youths.

"Senior citizens could have had the service at their doorstep through a single telephone call. Senior citizens also face problems such as refusal by auto drivers to take them to their destinations. They are left searching for autos in many cases," he said.

The Call Auto facility would also help people attending functions or arriving in the City from different places during the wee hours. It would also have benefited schoolchildren, he added.