Auto fare hike delayed over jurisdiction issues

On March 8 this year, the Delhi government had, through a cabinet decision, increased the per kilometre rate of auto-rickshaws by 18.75%.

A proposed hike in autorickshaw fares in the city has been delayed as the state government is, once again, unable to decide on the authority competent for notifying the new rates.

A proposed hike in autorickshaw fares in the city has been delayed as the state government is, once again, unable to decide on the authority competent for notifying the new rates. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

On March 8 this year, the Delhi government had, through a cabinet decision, increased the per kilometre rate of auto-rickshaws by 18.75%.

The government had said that the revised auto fares would be implemented by the end of May after the model code of conduct for the 2019 Lok Sabha election is lifted.

But, that is not going to happen now as the state transport department said there is “no clarity” on whether the file would be sent to the Lieutenant Governor or not. So far, the file on notifying the new rates has gone back and forth between the department and transport minister Kailash Gahlot more than twice on the same issue.

While the transport and the law departments have opined that the file needs to go to the L-G as he is the competent authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, minister Gahlot has been against the move saying the subject does not fall under any of the reserved subjects.

In Delhi, the Centre through L-G Anil Baijal has direct control over reserved subjects — land, police, and public order.

Citing the July 4, 2018 Supreme Court judgement, Gahlot said, “The minister is the only approver of the file as the SC verdict clearly states that the approval of the L-G was not necessary on matters beyond the reserved subjects. Auto fares do not fall under the subjects of police, land, or public order. But, it will be resolved soon.”

Countering the minister’s claim, the officers, however, stated the Supreme Court order of February 14 this year which says that the definition of the ‘state government’ varies from one enactment to another. “Para 171 of the February 14, 2019, SC judgment states that it would depend upon language used in defining ‘State Government’ in a particular enactment,” said officials on condition of anonymity.

“In this case, the enactment is the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, which clearly defines ‘state government’ as the administrator, which here is the L-G,” the official added.

This is not the first time that such “confusion” has happened within the Delhi government. The ‘Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017’ was also stuck over the same issue, until the SC intervened. The rules are still yet to be notified as the government and the EPCA are at loggerheads over introducing a fee for residential parking.

Even if this issue is sorted, the roll out of the new fares will still take time as the department has not yet started to recalibrate the fare meters of auto-rickshaws to calculate the journey fares according to the new rates. Also, the revised fares will have to be approved by the State Transport Authority (STA), a meeting of which has not been scheduled so far.

The cabinet’s decision of March 8 for the fare revision was done in the national capital after nearly six years much to the delight of the auto unions who are now facing stiff competition from mobile application based cab aggregators.

The revised fare structure is ₹25 for the first 1.5 km, ₹9.5 for each subsequent kilometre and ₹0.75 per minute for waiting at a traffic junction or moving at a speed of less than 6 kmph.