CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered that all autorickshaws should have functional electronic meters. The fare, the court added, may be restructured automatically in accordance with the prevailing fuel rate by using software technology.
The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the orders recently on a petition seeking implementation of GO Ms 611 dated August 25, 2013.
“... all the autorickshaw holders should have electronic meters and periodical checks should be conducted by the Police and Transport departments to find out as to whether the autorickshaw is being operated with meters or not, and if any complaint is made, then immediate action should be taken,” the bench said in the order.
Directing the State to revise the fares periodically by taking into account the fluctuation of fuel costs so that autorickshaw operators and the public may be benefitted, the bench suggested devising a software for restructuring the rate automatically.
Referring to the installation of GPS, the bench said that the government shall take further action on the matter, and the availability of GPS applications will benefit even the commuters. Since it would be a cost-consuming affair, the bench was not inclined to pass specific orders on that.
Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram, appearing for the government, informed that action was taken in compliance with the GO and all the autorickshaws are having electronic meters but without printers. Looking into the high cost of the electronic meter with printers, it is not viable for the State for installing them in autorickshaws.
He further stated the State is in the process of installing GPS or making consolidated equipment that may have meters with GPS and it may be available through a mobile application. The fare is collected based on the charges shown on the meters, the AG said.
However, the petitioner-in-person advocate SV Ramamurthy refuted the claim and noted the autorickshaw drivers are collecting the fare as per their will and not based on the meters. He noted that operators like Ola and Uber have taken a toll on the local autorickshaw operators but the firms are operating their fleet with working auto meters.