BENGALURU: It is a common sight to see autorickshaw drivers putting up additional registration number plates printed on paper, laminated and displayed on their autos, referring to the numbers for multiple ride-booking apps like Ola and Uber.
“I recently booked an auto to head home. An auto arrived at the location and was waiting for me. When we booked a ride, the vehicle registration number was shown to us. But the vehicle that arrived had a different registration number,” said Megha, a college student. “However, I could see the registration number shown on the app displayed at the front and back of the auto. I got into the auto, shared the OTP and reached my destination,” she added.
Transport Department officials said this might be happening in case the auto drivers are using a different auto with their ride-hailing account. This shouldn’t be taken lightly as the ride-hailing apps request the passengers to check if the registration number on the vehicle and the one booked are matching. In case of a mismatch, passengers shouldn’t be boarding the vehicle as this might risk their safety.
When TNIE took up the matter with Additional Commissioner of Transport (Enforcement) Mallikarjuna, he said, “It is illegal to operate autos using multiple vehicle registration numbers. A vehicle must have only one registration number and it should be affixed in the front and back of the vehicle as per law. Only the vehicle registered with the ride-hailing app should be used and auto drivers should not have multiple vehicle registration numbers.”
He said that both the transport department and traffic police are empowered to take action against such autos. After the Lok Sabha elections, the department will start a drive against such autos using multiple registration numbers, he added.