No autos in Chennai - What happened?
Posted on: 10/May/2023 9:15:57 AM
There has been a long delay in the revision of the auto rickshaw fares and this made the auto drivers go on a day long hunger strike yesterday in Chennai.
Since 2013, the TN state government has not revised the auto fares and this was according to Mr.S. Balasubramaniam, executive president of CITU- affiliated TN Auto Workers Federation.
It must be recalled that in February 2022, the High Court in Madras heard the case and ordered to change the meter fares. This was followed by the meeting between the rate fixing committee and auto unions. Truth is that the TN government did not revise the auto fares and demonstrations and hunger strikes took place in TN stressing 5 demands like changing the meter fares, govt app for hailing the autos and ban of bike taxis etc. Mr. Subramaniam spoke about how one year has gone now since the High Court gave orders to revise the auto fares that have not been increased for 10 years.
In Chennai, the auto drivers had got a bad reputation for over charging the customers. It is now said that the auto fares must be fixed at Rs 50 for the first 1.5km and Rs 25 for the subsequent km.
It is noteworthy that Uber and Ola have been collecting fares contrary to what the TN government has fixed. Just similar to Kerala, the government of TN must also run an app for autos. By this, the government would get revenue plus job security for the drivers and auto service could be provided for the public at a reasonable price.
