KOCHI: Tata Iris taxi owners are now a harried lot. They are being discriminated against by not only the law enforcement authorities, motor vehicle department among others but also the autorickshaw drivers. They are being harassed and belittled. The services of the new generation auto-taxi was launched with great fan fare two years ago. But now the owners are in so desperate a situation that they are mulling withdrawing their taxis.
Since, Iris has 6+1 seating capacity it is categorised as a ‘Taxi’ and the owners have to pay tax and insurance accordingly.
However, when it came to allotting parking facilities, the city police instructed them to park their vehicles in the autorickshaw stands. This in turn irked the autorickshaw drivers, who ganged up to prevent the Iris drivers from parking in their stands. The auto drivers call them the intruders.
“We are living on the edge. Our services have almost toppled. On one hand the police act tough when we park our vehicles independently, while on the other the auto drivers force us to flee from the autorickshaw stands alleging that we are stealing their customers,” said Saji Thuruthikunnel, president,BKS union and driver.
“The problem is that the police department is not accepting us as taxis. As we charge tariff that has been okayed for taxis, which is `150 per five kilometre, we rarely get passengers. At the time of launch, we are allowed to carry only three passengers. Also, we have been given permits exactly similar to that of a Tata Indica car. So instead of white colour uniforms, police force us to wear khakhi. This has worked towards further increasing the scuffle with the auto drivers,” said Santhosh Kumar, a district secretary and driver.
During a protest march held before the Kochi corporation office on Wednesday, the union members demanded the authorities to immediately set up an ‘exclusive’ stand for Iris vehicles in the city.
Meanwhile, the city traffic cops have also stressed upon the need to set up a stand for Iris vehicles. Admitting that the owners and drivers are bearing the brunt of autorickshaw drivers’ ire, K S Baby Vinod, Traffic ACP, Traffic West told ‘City Express’ that the authorities should consider their demand on a war footing.
“As Iris is a new generation vehicle, it will take some time for the people to accept them. In fact, the whole issue will be resolved once a stand becomes a reality. Similarly, the allegations of police harassment need to be checked. Some isolated incidents might have occurred. We can’t generalise it. So hopefully the corporation and motor vehicles department will soon find a suitable land for the stand,” he said.