Permit, helpline details on one sticker soon

Have a complaint against an autorickshaw or driver? Soon, you won’t have to go to the regional transport office to get the details of his vehicle, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) will soon make it mandatory to put up stickers containing details of the driver and helpline number in each vehicle.

Have a complaint against an autorickshaw or driver? Soon, you won’t have to go to the regional transport office to get the details of his vehicle, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) will soon make it mandatory to put up stickers containing details of the driver and helpline number in each vehicle.

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The deadline for the implementation will be decided soon. The rule will be binding on 2 lakh autorickshaws and 40,000 taxis plying in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Earlier in July, the MMRTA, a quasi-judicial body headed by transport secretary Shailesh Kumar Sharma, had decided to make it mandatory to display a copy of the permit and helpline numbers separately, but the unions had objected to it. As taxi or autorickshaw drivers didn’t follow the rule even after several months, the issue came up for discussion again in the last meeting of the authority. Some MMRTA members suggested that the rule be tweaked.

A senior RTO official, who didn’t wish to be named, said the apprehension of unions was valid, as there is no space to display an A-4 size laminated copy of the permit inside vehicles, especially autorickshaws.

“So the MMRTA decided to club the helpline sticker and permit copy together and design a smaller sticker that contains some basic details of the driver and permit holders, along with the helpline numbers,” said another RTO official.

The Wadala RTO office has been asked to design the new sticker. According to the official, the sticker will have the toll-free number of RTO for Mumbai and Thane area, police control room number, helpline for women, children and senior citizens and the SMS helpline number of city police.

The stickers could help avoid Delhi-like incidents, where a driver of a private cab service allegedly raped a woman passenger. Besides it will also prove helpful in getting back the luggage that is left behind in taxis or autos.

Transport authorities are also considering other steps such as allowing only badge holder drivers, whose antecedents are verified by the police, as a safety measure.