In a first in Mumbai: Auto driver who installed secret red button to rig e-meter booked for cheating

The police acted on a complaint from the Wadala RTO

Four days after a Jogeshwari passenger was charged a hiked fare owing to a rigged e-meter in an autorickshaw , the Meghwadi police have booked the driver for cheating, after receiving a complaint from the regional transport office (RTO) in Wadala late on Friday night.

The driver used a hidden button below the steering handle to speed up meter. (HT)

The driver has become the first auto permit holder in Mumbai to be booked for tampering the e-meter. The RTO had though filed a police complaint against an unauthorised meter mechanic in 2012 for tampering with a meter.

Meanwhile, the RTO has sent an inspection report on rigged meters to the transport commissioner’s office.

The police have booked Nitin Kumar Narale under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The motor vehicle inspector checked the autorickshaw two days ago and found the seal of the electronic meter broken, stated the FIR. Several wires were connected to the e-meter, which led to the steering handle, besides a button-size hole on its left, according to the FIR.

Hindustan Times had on Friday reported about how Sachin Khetale, a Jogeshwari resident, was charged an exorbitant fare from Thane to his home on February 12. The Jogeshwari traffic division had impounded Narale’s auto under section 207 of Motor Vehicles Act

The Wadala RTO issued a show-cause notice to Narale, 34, resident of Tembhipada, Bhandup. He was issued permit in 2014.