Title - Refusal to ply tops complaints against rickshaw drivers

PUNE: A majority of complaints filed by citizens against autorickshaw drivers in the city have highlighted how drivers often refuse to ply short distances and in some cases even long distance.The Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Pune received about 257 complaints against autorickshaw services in the last two and a half months. According to the statistics, there has been a steady rise in the number of complaints in the last three months. The RTO received as many as 59 complaints in April, which increased to 83 in May and 115 in June, so far."We will look into all the complaints received and initiate action against the driver if there is denial of service or overcharging. Continuous drives will be conducted in prominent localities jointly with the traffic police against erring autorickshaw drivers," an official said.The RTO has suspended licences of autorickshaw drivers in about 75 cases in the last two months on the basis of passenger complaints. A fine of Rs 43,000 was collected in these cases. The licences were suspended for 10 days, said an official.Statistics show that the RTO has received a minimum of three complaints against autorickshaw drivers in the city every day in the past three months. Refusal to ply tops the chart with 65% of the complaints. Others include tampered/fast meter, rude behavior and overcharging.An RTO official said, "Of the complaints, 165 are about denial of service. This is followed by complaints about overcharging. Most complaints are registered at bus stations and railway stations." Complaints came through letters, telephone calls and via emails and some were registered with the traffic police.

RTO officials said there has been an increase in the registration of complaints after the RTO introduced the SMS/ short code, e-mail and toll-free number 18002330012.

Suryakant Pathak of Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat said autorickshaw drivers fail to provide good services to passengers. "Federations must educate autorickshaw drivers and ask them not to harass passengers. The traffic police and RTO must act strictly against erring drivers. The issue is serious as thousands of passengers use the services in the city, every day."

Arun Jamadar, a senior citizen from Shivajinagar, said, "Autorickshaw drivers refuse to ply short distances. I often face problems when I have to travel for two km. Being a senior citizen, I cannot travel in a bus or use my own vehicle. The traffic police and RTO should take this issue seriously."