Bengaluru: In a sweeping crackdown on auto-rickshaws fleecing passengers, transport authorities in Bengaluru seized at least 98 three-wheelers on Monday for violating permit conditions.
A total of 260 cases were filed against auto drivers for such offences as overcharging, operating without valid fitness and insurance certificates and other violations.
Two teams from each of the city’s 11 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) began the drive at 8 am, checking both street-hailed autos and those affiliated to online aggregators.
The department took action two days after Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy asked it to rein in errant auto drivers. Demanding excess fares is “daylight robbery” and must be dealt with sternly, he had stated in his June 28 letter to the Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety.
Since the government banned bike taxis on June 16, passengers have complained that auto rides have become both expensive and scarce. Online auto rides are 20-30 per cent costlier than the meter fair, which is Rs 30 for the first 1.9 km and Rs 15 for every subsequent kilometre.
Reddy’s letter mentioned that on June 18, an auto on the Rapido app charged Rs 100.89 per km, while an auto on another app cost around Rs 184.19 for a 4-km journey.
On May 27, 2024, the High Court of Karnataka upheld a 2022 notification of the Transport Department capping online service charge at 5 per cent plus taxes. It also barred firms from imposing surge pricing, stating that any such charges should benefit the permit holder/driver – not the aggregator.
Reddy stressed that ride-hailing firms overcharging passengers cannot be allowed to get away.
“They’re free to operate but we just cannot tolerate passengers being charged two to three times the official fare,” he told DH, adding that the crackdown would continue.
A M Shobha, Joint Commissioner for Transport (Bengaluru Urban), said overcharging passengers was a violation of the permit conditions and would attract a penalty of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. “Three successive violations will result in permit cancellation,” she told this newspaper.
Some of the seized autos were also found operating without mandatory documents like fitness certificates (FCs) and insurance certificates, the official added. Drivers can pay the fines at their respective RTOs and reclaim their vehicles, she added.
Shobha said that further “appropriate” action against online aggregators would be taken by the State Transport Authority (STA).
A senior department official said that while the high court had upheld the 2022 notification, it had permitted online aggregators to offer auto rides under the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016.
“We’ve challenged this before the division bench because those rules apply only to four-wheelers. App-based autos need a separate three-wheeler licence,” the official said.
The next hearing is scheduled for July 2.
M Manjunath of the Bengaluru Auto Driver Unions’ Federation welcomed the crackdown, calling it “long overdue”.
“It was becoming unbearable. Most drivers were refusing street rides because apps were giving them higher fares,” he said.
However, Raghu Narayan Gowda of the Peace Auto Union said it was “unfair” to punish auto drivers. “The fare is set by the app, the driver has no control over it. We complained to the transport authorities and asked for a meeting with aggregator representatives,” he said.
Anatomy of a crackdown
- Autos seized: 98
- Bengaluru Central RTO: 19
- South: 18
- Jnanabharathi: 16
- West: 13
- Electronics City: 8
- East, Yelahanka, KR Puram: 5 each
- Chandapura: 4
- North: 4
- Devanahalli ARTO: 2
- Cases registered: 260
- Bengaluru South RTO: 48
- West: 36
- Central & East: 30 each
- Electronics City: 26
- North: 25
- KR Puram: 19
- Jnanabharathi: 18
- Yelahanka & Chandapura: 11 each
- Devanahalli ARTO: 6
Violations and fines
- Permit conditions: Rs 3,000-5,000 fine and vehicle seizure
- Excess fare: Rs 500
- Fitness Certificate: Rs 3,000
- Insurance certificate: Vehicle seizure