Commuters are left at the mercy of unscrupulous drivers who continue to fleece, with sources indicating that some of the autos have switches near the wiper button and hand gears to clandestinely inflate fares on the meter.
“A cartel of unscrupulous cabbies also uses an external switch to manipulate the electronic meter readings,” alleged a senior union leader.
Commuter rights activist Gaurang Vora said : “It is ridiculous that with chances of commuters being overcharged, refused rides, there is no common helpline for them in Mumbai. Such helplines offer support to an aggrieved passenger, and also in cases of traffic violations on road. Also, there is some deterrent for drivers as well.”
Sources said that the transport commissioner’s office had planned to introduce an ‘IVRS-cum-WhatsApp’ complaint mechanism for Mumbaikars to get in touch with regional transport offices (RTOs). But this has not been implemented till date. As per the proposed plan, this will be a 24×7 complaint registration system wherein citizens can call on a dedicated number from any part of Mumbai and lodge a complaint against an errant auto or cab driver for offences like refusals and overcharging. Citizens can also send a complaint over Whatsapp with a picture, registration number of the vehicle, meter.
The Mumbai Central RTO is the only office which has its own dedicated helpline for taxi refusals, rude behaviour and overcharging by cabbies.
Latest statistics shared with TOI on Monday showed that in the past four months since the special squad was formed, cases have been registered against 700 taxi drivers, Kaali Peeli and aggregators, and fines to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh were recovered.
The city RTOs had, in December, warned all drivers to get meters recalibrated as per revised fares by January 15. Despite the warnings, over 50,000 auto drivers and more than 15,000 cabbies have not recalibrated their meters with a fresh RTO seal. A source from autorickshaw union pointed out that if any meter is tampered with and the driver does not come for recalibration and test at the RTO, the rigged meter will go detected.
Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3RpbWVzb2ZpbmRpYS5pbmRpYXRpbWVzLmNvbS9jaXR5L211bWJhaS9jYWJiaWVzLXVwLWZhcmUtd2l0aC1zZWNyZXQtc3dpdGNoLW11bWJhaS1ydG8taGVscGxpbmUta2FwdXQvYXJ0aWNsZXNob3cvOTcxMDk4ODIuY21z0gGAAWh0dHBzOi8vbS50aW1lc29maW5kaWEuY29tL2NpdHkvbXVtYmFpL2NhYmJpZXMtdXAtZmFyZS13aXRoLXNlY3JldC1zd2l0Y2gtbXVtYmFpLXJ0by1oZWxwbGluZS1rYXB1dC9hbXBfYXJ0aWNsZXNob3cvOTcxMDk4ODIuY21z?oc=5
