Rough ride for tourists as autos use old meters for revised rates

Despite auto fares being hiked in the city in June, most autos have not got the new meters installed till date and are still using the old ones.

Despite auto fares being hiked in the city in June, most autos have not got the new meters installed till date and are still using the old ones.

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According to officials in the Weights and Measurement Department, out of the 55,000 autos, only 15000 have been fitted with new meters so far.

The autos plying with old meters are already creating problems for Delhiites and will become a major problem for tourists coming to the city.

“If I go to another city and am told that the amount shown in the meter is not correct I will not believe the driver. The same goes for tourists coming to Delhi,” said Karan Dogra, a software engineer who lives in RK Puram.

Auto drivers have started carrying a chart that indicates fare according to the distance. This chart has the night fares (which are higher) on one side and the day time fares in the other. Many a time the driver and the passenger look at the wrong side and end up paying a higher amount.

“We are trying to complete the drive by November. Changing so many meters in such a short span of time is not possible. We also faced some software problems earlier due to which work was slowed down," said Sudarshan Khosla, a senior officer of the Weights and Measurement Department.