E-meters will be made mandatory by Jan-end

State is yet to set a deadline for conversion of old meters; activists demand restructuring of distance from 1.6km to 1km in e-meters.

The state transport department is set to issue a government notification making e-meters mandatory in auto rickshaws by January end, but has not yet set a deadline for conversion of all auto meters. Nor is the government restructuring the minimum distance from 1.6km to 1km, which has been a long-standing demand of consumer activists.

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“The government notification to make electronic meters compulsory will be issued by the end of January. The conversion of mechanical to e-meters will take place in phases across the state — the date-wise details will be mentioned in the notification,” state transport secretary Dr Shailesh Kumar Sharma told Hindustan Times. For the first three months, compulsory e-meters will be enforced for new autos, and after that, for both the old and new ones.

“The enforcement of e-meters may start in the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Transport Authority jurisdiction, and then in other regions,” said Dr Sharma.

Consumer activists have raised objections over the enforcement of e-meters without restructuring of the minimum distance. “The government should decide on a specific time limit to transform all mechanical meters into electronic ones. Otherwise, like in cabs, the new autos will have e-meters but the old ones will continue to have mechanical meters,” said Shirish Desphande, chairperson of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat.