RailEnquiry

NEW DELHI: Traffic and railway officials are working on a new prepaid auto and taxi system to reduce harassment of commuters travelling to and from New Delhi station. The new system, which will initially be tried out at the Ajmeri Gate end, is likely to be replicated at all stations in the city, said officials.

Under this 24-hour system, autorickshaws and taxis will not be allowed to park and pick up passengers on their own. Traffic officials say a lot of canvassing and touting at the railway station leads to people getting fleeced by unscrupulous drivers. As many of the passengers are new to Delhi, they are more vulnerable to such cheating, sources said.

Autos and taxis will either be allowed to wait for customers in the single, prepaid service lane or drop their passengers and leave. The current prepaid kiosk is slightly farther from the exit of the station, giving other autos a chance to cheat passengers.

"The new booths will be at a prime location next to the exit. Railway officials have said they would take around two months to complete the civil work for this prepaid system. That period will be over in a week and we will then review the work," said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.

The autos and taxis will also not be allowed to overtake and leave the station after entering the prepaid lane, he added. Passengers are now given a receipt with an auto/taxi's registration number on it. This means that they have to wait for the specific vehicle. Under the new system, the first available auto/taxi in the queue will have to take the passenger and there will be no scope for any negotiation, said officials. A facilitating official will ensure that the passengers get into the next available auto or taxi, they said.

Action will be taken if there are not enough vehicles or if it is found that autos are fleecing customers once they are outside the station.

"We have spoken to auto drivers before devising the system and they are satisfied with it. In case the new system is not successful, we can always revert to the earlier one," said a senior traffic police officer.