Where are the fare charts, ask autodrivers

Where are the fare charts, ask autodrivers

Staff Reporter
Transport Department blamed for delay

Fare charts to be distributed to auto unions: RTO

BANGALORE: Even as the revised autorikshaw fares come into effect from Sunday, the delay in distribution of authorised charts of the revised fares by the Regional Transport Authority is likely to cause some confusion. The fares have been revised — Rs. 17 as minimum fare and Rs. 8.5 for every kilometre — and the revised fare chart will only be distributed on Monday.

No proof

Auto drivers are in a spot of bother as they are sure that passengers who are unaware of the new fares will demand proof. As Muniraju D., an autorickshaw driver said, “People will not be ready to pay more until they know about the rates fixed by the Government.”

On the other hand, there were some who made a quick buck by selling copies of the coveted charts for Rs. 2 each. Driver K.L. Girish confirmed this.

“Some people are selling the fare charts at traffic signals. But they do not have the seal of the Regional Transport Office (RTO),” he said.

RTO's move

Blaming the Transport Department for the delay, sources in the RTO told The Hindu that the revised fare charts had reached them only on Saturday afternoon.

“Each RTO will be dispatching around 2,000 copies to autorickshaw associations; we will also display the charts on our notice boards,” said an RTO official in Indiranagar. He said copies were being distributed even to the public who asked for them.

In the know

M.K. Aiyappa, Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore Urban and Regional Transport Authority, said he had directed the RTOs to frame the conversion charts a week ago. “The Transport Department and the RTOs should have kept them ready. It is also the responsibility of the auto drivers to collect them from the RTO,” he said, and added that the new fares have been widely publicised and most people know about it.