Hyderabad traffic police lodged 18,866 cases booked against auto-rickshaw drivers in a week-long drive.
Traffic police booked as many as 18,866 cases against errant auto-rickshaw drivers during the week-long special drive against them, and collected Rs. 12,23,900 in fines, providing some relief to harassed citizens.
The drive, which was started from September 27th and continued till Friday, was aimed at checking those drivers who violate rules and regulations.
The traffic police booked 909 auto drivers for demanding extra from passengers, 588 for refusing to ply passengers to said destinations, 839 for carrying more than the permitted number of passengers, 187 cases of ferrying more than 6 school children, 2,971 for auto piloting, 92 for rash driving, 670 for parking in bus bays, 1,781 for wrong parking, 479 for signal jumping, 206 for stop line crossing, 2,309 for driving without a uniform, 479 for driving without a driving license, and 77 for driving without documents.
In addition, there were 6,753 pending cases detected through PDAs.
The traffic police detained as many as 319 autos and booked 207 cases using decoys.
According to authorities, the Traffic Police Department will insist that auto drivers follow "Rule 269 - Exhibition Of Particulars On Auto Rickshaws" of AP MV Rules, 1989, where a board/plate inside the auto rickshaw should be installed and fixed on the portion between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in a manner visible to the passengers from the seat.
This board should be 20 cm in length and 20 cm in width, with white letters set on a black background, with each letter not less than 3 mm in length and 3 mm in breadth.
The board should contain details that include the name of the Auto Owner, Auto Registration Number in Telugu or in Urdu, and traffic help lines 9010203626 or 040-27852482 and 27852471.
The traffic police also confirmed that during these drives, several auto drivers and owners were found resorting to tampering of digital meters, and several methods were being adopted to tamper these meters so that they could collect extra fare from the hapless passengers.
The traffic police warned that henceforth, if a meter was found to be tampered, Legal Metrology Authorities would be informed to take action as per their procedures.
The Police Department will proceed to take criminal action against the owners of such auto-rickshaws, and also the owners of the mechanical sheds who were found to have tampered with the meters, under 420 IPC.
As per Rule 100 Sub Section ii (2) of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, the plastic sheet on the rear side of the auto-rickshaw should be transparent. Many autos have converted this into advertisement space.
Auto-rickshaw owners are required to place transparent plastic sheets in place of the advertisement, for security reasons and also for rear view functionality.
The traffic police have given a week's time to auto owners and drivers to make the above changes in the autos.
In this week, owners and drivers are also expected to regularise their driving licenses and other auto papers, arrange for khaki shirts and a proper uniform, remove extra structures near the driver's seat and make other mandatory changes.
The traffic police is proposing another drive targeting auto-rickshaw drivers, from October 11th.
Courtesy: INN