₹2.32L fine collected from auto drivers ferrying more than two passengers in Thane

The drive was carried out from November 9 across the 18 traffic units in Thane commissionerate to ensure auto drivers do not violate the norms during the festive season.

The Thane city traffic police have taken action against 4,646 errant auto rickshaw drivers for travelling with more than two passengers since the start of November.

Despite permission to ferry only two passengers, auto drivers take more, violating norms. (HT photo/for representational purpose only)

The drive was carried out from November 9 across the 18 traffic units in Thane commissionerate to ensure auto drivers do not violate the norms during the festive season.

The police, however, found that despite the permission to ferry only two passengers, auto drivers were carrying three to five commuters. As per the records provided by the traffic police, till November 25, action was taken against 4,646 auto drivers and a total fine of ₹2.32 lakh collected.

The highest number of 570 cases was registered in Kalwa followed by 517 in Kalyan and 358 cases by Kapurbawadi while Ambernath had merely 55 violation cases against the auto drivers followed by 118 in Vithalwadi and 137 in Rabodi.

Balasaheb Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, “We had received several complaints from the commuters about auto rickshaw drivers ferrying more than two commuters. As per the norms of social-distancing, only two commuters can travel in an auto at a time. Most share autos from railway station carried four to five commuters, thus we initiated the special drive. A fine of ₹500 was imposed on the drivers who were caught ferrying more than two commuters.”

With the unavailability of adequate public transport, most residents opt for share autos to reach home from the station. Patil said, “This being true, it is certainly not advisable to sit in close proximity of each other as it is a sure way of passing the infection. We would appeal to the commuters to wait for next auto or bus instead of overcrowding.”