Boards crop up at stands opposing online autorickshaws

Autorickshaw drivers oppose online autos near stands, leading to conflicts; shortage of city permit autos worsens situation.

With drivers of autorickshaws that operate mainly from stands at many places in the city opposing the halting of online autos anywhere near their stands to collect passengers, spats between drivers are becoming common, with passengers sometimes getting caught in the crossfire.

The situation is such that boards have been put up by drivers’ unions at many such autorickshaw stands, including in the city hub, telling online autos not to pick up passengers from within 150 metres of their vicinity.

The drivers of autorickshaws having city permit are already affected by the entry of thousands of autos from suburban towns and other areas, said M.B. Syamandabhadran, president of Ernakulam Jilla Auto Drivers’ Sahakarana Sangam, a society having representation of different autorickshaw driver unions. “There are hardly 3,000 autos with city permit, while Kochi needs at least 7,500 city permit autos. The entry of online autos has further affected the patronage of autos that operate from stands, and they have to wait for long to get their turn to operate trips,” he added. It could be because of this that unions joined together and put up flex boards near auto stands, said another union leader.

A senior Motor Vehicle department (MVD) official said online autos hitherto operated based on guidelines issued by the Centre. “We are awaiting clarity regarding a policy decision that the State government took on the operation of online autos. Moreover, these autos and their drivers also must comply with all norms that are in vogue in the State, since there are reports of even autos from as far away as Kollam and Kasaragod operating in the city, based on online ride-hail apps,” he said.

He added that many passengers preferred online autos since there were rampant complaints of conventional auto drivers resorting to fleecing and charging much more than the permitted fare. Stringent action was on the anvil to prevent this trend.

Decrying the opposition to online auto drivers parking anywhere near auto stands, sources said most such stands were illegal and were hence not a legal entity.

Any form of violence ought to be opposed. Moreover, there was no rule in Kerala that curbed the operation of online autos. It must also be noted that they operated in many States that were yet to form a policy to regulate their services, the official said.