Auto drivers seek higher fares, protest
Gurugram Autorickshaw drivers in the city on Friday registered their opposition to the new fare slab for autos fixed by the Haryana government. They argued that not only are the prices lower than those of neighbouring Delhi, but that they will be left with little opportunity to profit, given the higher price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel in Gurugram and Faridabad.
Experts, on the other hand, are hopeful that the move would reduce the financial burden on commuters.
On December 19, the Haryana transport department notified fixed fares for autorickshaws operating within the municipal limits of Gurugram and Faridabad. Fixing of fares for autorickshaws has been a long-standing public demand and was also a pre-poll promise.
On Friday afternoon, auto drivers and union workers gathered in Sector 29’s Huda Park to express their opposition to the same.
As per the notification, issued under Section 67 of the Motor Vehicles Act (1988), all auto drivers will be required to run by the meter “with immediate effect”. Customers will have to pay ₹12 for the first kilometre, after which they will be charged ₹8 per each subsequent kilometre. In order to encourage auto drivers to operate at night, from 11pm to 5am, 25% additional “night charge” will be levied.
Yogesh Sharma, state general secretary of the Haryana Auto Chalak Sangathan (a union associated with the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh), said on Friday, “We are not opposed to regulation; it is the right of the customer as well. But these prices are much lower than in Delhi, where autos charge ₹25 for the first kilometre-and-a-half, and ₹9.5 per each subsequent kilometre.”
Moreover, given the difference in prices of CNG fuel in Gurugram and Faridabad on the one hand, where CNG costs ₹58 per litre, and Delhi on the other, where it costs about ₹48 per litre, auto drivers say they will be left with a slender profit margin. “As per the new fares, I will have to drive my auto for 16 hours a day to make what I make at present, driving for eight hours a day,” said Sudhir, an auto driver who plies between Huda City Centre and sectors 29/30.
Sharma said, “To buy meters for our autos, the government has contracted a single agency, which is charging us ₹2,950 for the installation. However, the market price of the instrument is only about ₹1,000.”
Experts, on the other hand, lauded the government’s move to regularise auto fares in the two cities. “It is every commuter’s right to fair and regularised cost. It creates a fairer system than the present one, wherein autos charge as much as ₹50 for just a kilometre of travel,” said Sarika Panda Bhat, a city-based transportation expert.
“However, it is also important to have reasonable fare slabs. If CNG is more expensive in Gurugram, then of course, the price point needs to be adjusted,” she said, adding that else, it might result in a situation where the metered fares are defied by auto drivers, forcing consumers back into the rut of informal bargaining.
Imran Raza, additional deputy commissioner, said that the new fare system would be imposed by ensuring that auto licences are granted only upon the installation of the meters. “Every day, the RTA receives a certain number of applications for auto licences. We have made it mandatory to have meters as a prerequisite for obtaining this. Eventually, this system will require all autos, old and new, to have meters before obtaining new licences or renewing existing ones.”
Residents reacted positively to the development. Ankit Gulati, who commutes by auto every day from Iffco Chowk to Sukhrali for work, said, “I end up paying from ₹50 to ₹70 one way, for a five-minute journey. Fixed fares will hopefully lower this cost, and also the time I spend bargaining.”
