Mumbai: Licences of over 300 auto drivers confiscated

MUMBAI: RTO officials confiscated 337 licences of autorickshaw drivers for “permanent cancellation” after they refused to ply passengers outside stations and airports in Mumbai suburbs during the past 10 days. This is one of the biggest crackdown on auto drivers in recent years, said an official.
It comes close on the heels of state transport commissioner Shekhar Channe announcing auto and taxi drivers who refuse passengers will face termination of commercial driving licences.Channe said the objective was to clip the wings of rogue drivers and those operating in cartels outside railway stations and airports. “The RTO will conduct a detailed inquiry, give drivers a chance to defend themselves and also seek the version of commuters before taking any action,” he said.
There have also been several complaints of refusals in the past two years. City RTOs received 1,020 refusal complaints in 2018-19 as compared to 612 complaints in 2017-18.
In case drivers have humiliated women commuters or senior citizens, behaved rudely or assaulted any passenger, the RTO will initiate licence cancellation immediately. If the driver is a habitual offender, the RTO will have strong grounds to cancel the licence permanently, an RTO official said.
During the drive, officials found 15 auto drivers had charged excess fare; 70 auto drivers were caught in suburbs such as Andheri and Borivali for carrying illegal number of passengers and 863 drivers were found without badge and licence. In all, the RTO checked 709 licences of which 337 will be sent for permanent cancellation.
During the drive, the suburban RTOs also impounded 91 autorickshaws. They will be sent for scrap after it is confirmed they have been plying illegally.
Said auto union leader Shashank Rao, “There are nearly 30,000 illegal autos plying in the eastern and western suburbs, and we have demanded these drivers should be caught and their vehicles destroyed.” Officials said the drive was carried out in Ghatkopar, Mulund, Kurla, airport areas, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Borivali among other places.