KARACHI : Fare meters have almost disappeared from the auto-rickshaws and taxis in the metropolis where thousands of people used this transport service to travel from one place to another. Section 53 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965 and section 124 of the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969, clearly state that the installation of fare meters in motor rickshaws is mandatory. The traffic police and motor vehicle transport department are ignoring these with blatant violations of the law and their lack of action is encouraging others to follow the suit. Outdated government policy has worsened the problem, as the fare rate for motor rickshaws has not been raised since 2002, when it was set at Rs9/km. Meanwhile, it was also learned that those who had meters in their vehicles are also altering them to charge more. Talking to PPI, a rickshaw mechanic at Saddar, Hafeez said that it required only Rs 300 to get a rickshaw meter altered. Usually, the altered meters show almost double the reading as compared to the original figure, he said. Usually, a gearwheel of number 13 is installed in the meter that rotates with the movement of the speedometer. However, he said, gearwheel number 14 is used so that the meter can move faster. This type of gearwheel can be fixed to show almost double the reading on the meter. General Secretary of the Karachi Taxi Rickshaw Welfare Association, Chanzeb Awan, admitted that the majority of the rickshaws do not have meters but blamed government for not altering rates after hike in petrol prices. Due to the inexorable rise in petrol prices over the last few years, fare rate of Rs 9/km is no longer feasible, he said. Talha Khan, who usually use rickshaw to travel, alleged rickshaw drivers of charging higher rates despite using CNG rickshaws. They charge rates of petrol despite using CNG and during off days of CNG they double their rates, taking advantage of thin transport on roads, he said. Meanwhile, Minister Transport Mumtaz Hussain Jakhrani and Secretary Transport Taha Farooqui were not available for comment despite repeated attempts. However, speaking on condition of anonymity, a transport department official told PPI that although the department was authorized to manage transport issues in the province but it could not enforce implementation of the law in this regard. We can only direct the concerned authorities, including traffic police to look into the matter but we could not directly check and enforce these laws.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 07:55:36 +0000
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