Officials of the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) and the Legal Metrology department have said that inspections to ensure that auto operators use fare meters will be resumed from March 1.
Passengers in the city had openly protested against unfair charges and the collection of taxi fares by auto operators without using fare meters. Many drivers were suspected of disabling meters or not repairing faulty ones.
A recent instruction issued by the MVD requiring drivers without fare meters to affix “free service” stickers on their vehicles had sparked strong protests from drivers’ unions. They said the directive was “illegal” and intended to “defame” the driver community in the city.
“Our demand is to withdraw this order by March 1, as all drivers have strongly opposed the move. If not, autorickshaw drivers will launch an indefinite protest in Kozhikode city,” said a member of the autorickshaw drivers’ union. He also claimed that no autorickshaws were operating without fare meters and that there would be no issue if squads verified it directly.
Meanwhile, some autorickshaw drivers complained that the fare meters were not calibrated to reflect differences in urban and rural service tariffs. They also claimed that passengers were unaware of these technical issues and the variations in minimum service charges between urban and rural areas.
According to official records, there are about 7,500 autorickshaws within the city limits, including petrol, diesel, and electric variants. Autorickshaws without properly functioning fare meters are reportedly operated by drivers without city permits. Such vehicles are not allowed to park in designated autorickshaw bays due to opposition from other drivers.
“The disagreement between passengers and auto drivers will end only if separate fare meters are allotted for urban and rural vehicles. Existing meters will never solve the issue,” said V. Nishad, a former member of the autorickshaw drivers’ union. He added that police officers were often unaware of these differences.
