‘Stop refusal menace before hiking auto fares’

MUMBAI: Even as the Bombay high court is expected to hear the MMRTA's proposal to increase autorickshaw and taxi fares by Rs 2 this week, commuters want the menace of refusals to stop. They also want the court to direct the government agencies like RTO and traffic police to crack the whip on auto drivers behaving rudely with commuters and plying vehicles that are in bad conditions. "I have been lodging several complaints on the RTO tollfree helpline (1800-22-0110), but the situation does not seem to improve. Unless there is a marked improvement in the quality of service, there should be no hikes," said Shilpa Deshpande, a Borivli resident, who depends on autos for daily commute. Dharmesh Shah, who takes taxis in the Parel area regularly, also complained of the refusal menace. "Since the number of taxis is less on road and the demand is more, drivers have become choosy. They will look the other way when you request them to ferry to a particular destination. Such rude drivers need to be taught a lesson," he demanded. Women commuters travelling daily from Churchgate to CST also told TOI about the drivers being insensitive to women passengers. The court is already hearing a PIL filed by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, which had challenged the Hakim committee formula to calculate fare hikes. Minister of state for transport Sachin Ahir said the government had taken up the issue of autos and taxis which were old and in bad condition. "We have introduced compulsory scrapping of old vehicles and so far scrapped 22,000 autos and taxis in Mumbai in the past one year. We are also allowing 20,000 brand new autos and 7,700 new black-and-yellow taxis to hit city roads by the year-end. Besides, we have directed RTOs to conduct regular checks and take action on the basis of commuter complaints," he assured. -TOI