Pre-paid extortion at rly stations

Pre-paid extortion at rly stations
By R Venkatesh,DH News Service,Bangalore:
It has become a pre-paid extortion of sorts. That sums up what the pre-paid autorickshaw facility at railway stations in the City have been reduced to.

Early in the morning, these pre-paid auto stands show no signs of life. Parking lanes at these stands lie empty, even as scores of autos dot the neighbourhood.
Every time passengers come out of the station, auto drivers run up to them, offering to ferry them to their destination - for hefty pre-fixed fares. With the few police personnel around looking the other way and the stand virtually empty, the travel-weary passengers have no choice but to agree. This practice is said to thrive during late nights as well.
Deccan Herald did a reality check at the pre-paid auto stands of a few City railway stations on three consecutive mornings. The nexus is there for all to see. The few policemen at the stands were oblivious to complaints from passengers about vacant stands, even as autodrivers offered to take them at a hefty price.
Rehman (name changed), an autodriver, said, “We shell out Rs 10 every day to the police and once in a fortnight we pay Rs 20 in the name of bribing the inspector as well. Apart from this, money is regularly collected from us by police, under the guise of one or the other festival or programme.”
“Once we pay, police allow us to approach arriving passengers at the gate itself. We divide the passengers amongst ourselves by the colour of their clothes and baggage, and once apportioned, no autodriver dares poach on another’s quarry. And, obviously, all the hafta we pay is built into the fare we demand,” he says.
But not all passengers walk into the pre-paid trap. A few passengers try to walk away from the pre-paid autos to those parked at some distance from the stations. But before the passengers get into these vehicles, the police admonish the autorickshaw drivers for not operating from the stands, and chase them away.
Mani, another driver, had this to say. “There’s a mafia here. Either we fall in line and bribe them or pay the price by losing business. And, there’s no use standing in the queue. The mafia ring, including the police and drivers, ensure that those who are not part of the ‘ring’ get trips with less fares and the long distance trips are taken away by the ‘ring’ rickshaws.”
Clueless passengers
Deccan Herald hung on for a few hours to watch the “ring” in action. As the day progressed, the pre-paid racket acquired clearer contours. Now the lanes were teeming with autorickshaws.
The ranks of the autorickshaws in the neighbourhood too kept swelling. Passengers who registered themselves at the stand were obviously clueless as they were shepherded into one of the waiting vehicles.
When these pre-paid stands were launched with great fanfare by the City traffic police, it was said they would free the public from fleecing by unscrupulous autorickshaw drivers. But these pre-paid stands have now become havens for the nexus between traffic policemen and autorickshaw drivers, who have joined forces to drill holes in commuters’ pocket.
The City traffic police, after launching these pre-paid stands, handed over their management to the railway traffic police.
Bangalore East Traffic ACP Eshwar Prasad almost admitted to a nexus at work. “Almost every day we receive complaints but we can’t do anything as pre-paid auto stands are maintained by the railway police traffic wing,” he says.
K H Srinivasan, Railway SP, brushed aside nexus suggestions.
He said, “There is no scope for manipulation at the pre-paid stands. We are strictly following the government order and there are two queues — one for pre-paid and other for metered autos. Passengers have the freedom to choose.”